


The Support System

by ancientwastedlores



Category: Loki - Fandom, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Actor Tom Hiddleston, Domestic Avengers, Fluff, Loki (Marvel) Feels, Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, Marvel Universe, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:00:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 25,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25747033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ancientwastedlores/pseuds/ancientwastedlores
Summary: The Avengers have managed to collect all the infinity stones across the universe, and are currently keeping them in far corners of the world, only for research and to see if they can improve the planet and its people. Reader is a researcher with Tony Stark and Bruce Banner, as well as a field agent. Loki is currently serving time for his actions in New York City in 2012.
Relationships: Loki (Marvel)/Reader
Comments: 2
Kudos: 41





	1. Chapter 1

‘So we’re close!?’ 

‘Absolutely, we just have to crack it and baby’s gonna sing’ Tony smiles. ‘I’m good for a drink right about now’. 

‘Me too’ you take off your safety goggles and place them on the your immaculately organized workspace. ‘Bruce?’ 

‘Yeah, I’ll join you’ he waves one hand in the air as he stares at the Reality Gem. 

You and Tony leave the lab and head to the bar. ‘Beer?’ you ask, handing him a bottle. He takes it, you get yourself a can, and sit down on the couch. 

‘How’s it going with Nat?’ he asks. 

‘Great, we expect to be ready in a month to carry out the extraction’. 

‘I can’t wait’ Tony’s eyes gleam like an excited child’s. ‘We’ve been tracking these guys for a year now, the tech they’ve managed to get their hands on is insane’. 

‘Okay, I get why you want it…’

‘Research purposes, of course!’ 

‘Of course…’ you grin, knowing that research is never ALL Stark wants shiny new toys for, ‘but I do want to remind you that you did promise me and Natasha a whole day of playing with them before you break them apart’. 

‘In a contained, safe environment’ 

‘Yes. I’m just reminding you because you do get excited’. 

Tony chuckles and takes a swig from beer. ‘Next month can’t get here soon enough. But you sure you’re ready?’ 

‘Oh absolutely. You’ve been tracking them for a year, and we’ve been training for a year. Ask me anything’. 

‘How do you hold the Chitauri M7 Blaster?’ 

You stand up, set your beer down on the table and position your right leg before your left, then stretch out your right arm while tucking your left wrist under your right elbow and having your fingers wiggle from underneath. It looks ridiculous without the weapon, so Tony laughs. You laugh too and sit back down. 

It’s been a year and three months since you were recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D. You were originally a member of Maria Hill’s team, but three months later, after Tony Stark found some papers you wrote in secret about the sentience of all the Infinity Stones, as well as your records of correspondence with Doctor Strange, he decided your talents were better put to use in his lab with himself and Bruce Banner. Not wanting to abandon your role as a field agent, Tony offered you an apprenticeship with Natasha Romanova, which you gladly accepted. 

Tony teased you for being taller than most of the agents and Avengers initially, until Thor showed up and stole your thunder, pun intended. You have broad shoulders, stand at 5’ 12”, and have jet black hair till your shoulders, which you mostly keep open, because you like how it frames your face. You love that people find you intimidating and hardly talk to you, when the truth is you’re the total opposite, a fact only known by Tony and a few Avengers. 

‘Who else are you planning to send for the extraction?’ you ask. 

‘You and Nat, of course. Then Clint. Thor might be able to help with the handling of the alien tech, so him. Couple of other S.H.I.E.L.D agents led by Hill’. 

You smile at the thought of getting to meet Maria Hill again. She was your first mentor, and taught you nearly everything you know about fighting. 

‘What about Loki?’ you ask. 

‘I thought of it and decided against it. This is a sensitive operation, and surrounded by all those weapons, if he gets any ideas, you’ll all be at risk’. 

‘I’m sure he won’t, he’s been doing well. But it’s your call’ you finish your beer. ‘Back to work?’ 

xx

After spending another six hours at the lab with Tony and Bruce, you three finally call it a day and head back to your rooms. After getting to yours, you take a long shower, strings of theories on how you could crack the reality stone running through your head. You decide to get another drink, a cocktail perhaps, before curling up with some research papers Doctor Strange sent over. 

You walk over to the bar in the residence wing of the tower, sure that it would be empty at this time on a weekday. Just before you reach the entrance, though, you hear two people fight. 

‘…it was irresponsible and childish, and you could have gotten them killed!’ Thor’s voice booms. You decide to listen.   
‘If I hadn’t taken it from her hand, she would have died anyway!’ Loki responded.   
‘You let ME handle it then’.   
‘Right, because I can never do anything right, can I, brother?’ 

Silence. ‘Just let me handle it next time. You do not involve yourself unless expressly asked’. Thor storms out from the other side of the bar, leaving Loki alone. Your own experiences with being grossly misunderstood makes you feel for Loki. You walk into the bar. 

Loki doesn’t notice until you get close. ‘What do you want’ he asks, tired. 

You go closer and envelope him in a tight hug. Shocked, Loki freezes. ‘What are you doing’ he whispers, fake annoyance in his tone. 

‘Nothing’ you pull back. ‘I came to make myself a drink, do you want one?’   
‘No’ he said defiantly. You shrug and go behind the bar to get some cranberry juice.   
‘Yes’ he says, in a softer tone. You smile.

You proceed to make yourselves a vodka cranberry. You would normally make it in a regular glass, but because you think Loki needs cheering up, you pour it in a Martini cocktail glass with an unnecessary amount of umbrellas to make him laugh. You manage to get a small smile as you slide his drink across the bar. 

‘Thank you’ he says. 

You take a sip of your own drink. ‘Wanna talk about it?’ 

His silence is answer enough, and you know not to push. ‘No worries’ you say. ‘How’s the drink? Want another?’ 

He nods. You make him another one while sipping from your glass. 

‘I’ve been in the tower a while’ he says finally.   
‘Yes, I know’.   
‘I’m still looked at with nothing but suspicion’.   
You sigh. ‘I know. They’re only afraid’.   
‘I’ve been painfully patient. I just don’t have anybody on my side to vouch for me’.   
‘Oh’ is that it you think. He just needs a P.R. agent. You chuckle at the thought.   
‘Is that funny?’ he asks.   
‘No, I just thought of a thing. But I can do it’.   
‘Do what?’   
‘Vouch for you. Be your uh… image manager. Whatever’. 

Loki narrows his eyes at you. Even though he’s known you for about a year, this is the first time you’ve actually spoken to him. He can’t understand why you would help him. 

‘Alright’ he says. He finishes the second drink as well. You ask if he wants another, and he just holds his glass out to you. ‘Something stronger this time?’ 

xx

About six drinks later, Loki has a good buzz going, and you are not even close to tipsy. You roll your eyes at him, cursing your high capacity for alcohol, but deciding you’ve had enough of it, you tell Loki you’re off to bed and you’ll see him in the morning. 

‘Let me walk you to your room’ he offers. You accept. 

xx

You absolutely love your room; an entire section of the room is just glass, overlooking the city of New York. It gets hot during the days, but it looks magical at night. Once you’ve reached your room, you stretch, take off all your clothes, and get under your blankets. It’s quite late, so you decide to keep the research papers Strange sent over for the morning. 

xx

A few hours later, just as you feel like you might fall asleep, you hear a knock on the door. You groan and reach for your phone to check the time. 3:35 AM. 

‘Who is it?’ you call out.   
‘Loki’

You know for a fact he has never felt comfortable enough to go to anyone’s room at 3:30 in the morning in the Tower. 

‘One sec’ you call out, hopping out of bed to retrieve your shirt and a pair of shorts. You dive back under the covers and yell ‘Come in!’. 

Loki looks like he has sobered up, and smells like he just took a shower. He shuts the door softly and makes his way to your bed. 

‘What’s wrong?’ you ask. 

He sits on the corner of your bed, next to your feet, so far that he looks supremely uncomfortable. 

‘You can sit normally, you know. I won’t get offended’. 

He obliges by placing himself further towards the centre of the bed, while still maintaining his corner. ‘Thank you’. 

‘What’s wrong?’   
‘I couldn’t sleep, I just wanted to talk. I hope I didn’t wake you’.   
‘You didn’t’ you say, ‘What did you want to talk about?’   
‘I-‘ he hesitates, ‘Well. I- I wasn’t in control in New York’.   
‘Uhuh…’  
‘I was made to do it. I know that’s a lame excuse but it’s true. Thanos found me when I got lost and he… tortured me. But I can’t tell anybody that because they wouldn’t listen’.   
‘Who’s Thanos?’ you ask. 

Loki proceeds to tell you about the Mad Titan who killed his own people, his thirst for power over the entire universe, his obsession with the Goddess of Death, and his children. You listen in stunned silence. Thanos’ children inflicted unmentionable torture on Loki when he fell from the Bifrost. 

As Loki recounts these events, tears start to fall, and he is visibly shaking. You scoot closer to him and hold his hands. ‘It’s alright’. 

He stops to sniff, and catch his breath. ‘Do you want to go on?’ you ask. 

‘Yes please’. 

You don’t let go of his hands for the remainder of his story. 

Once it looks like he has finished, you hand him a few tissues from your nightstand. He wipes his face clean and hands them back to you. You turn to throw them. 

‘Why are you listening to me?’ he asks.   
‘I don’t see why I shouldn’t’ you say simply. ‘It’s only the decent thing to do’.   
‘No one else seems to think so’ he says bitterly.   
‘Like I said, they’re scared’ you say.   
‘Why aren’t you, then?’ 

You shrug. He looks at you. Your room is dark, but some light from the city spills into the room, so he gets a good look at your features. They only look at him with kindness. No fear. ‘Seriously. Why aren’t you afraid of me? What happened to you?’ 

You quickly look away. ‘Nothing like that. I just don’t scare easy’. 

He says nothing. A few minutes pass in silence. You stifle a yawn. The watch says 4:45 AM. You’ve got a long day at the lab, and then with Natasha, and then at the lab again. You need to catch at least a little sleep. 

‘Listen…’ you look back at him. ‘Do you want to sleep here, next to me?’ 

He widens his eyes in surprise. ‘You’d do that for me?’ 

‘Yeah’ you say, not really seeing the big deal. You move to the right side of the bed and pat the left as if to indicate that he may lay down there. He moves up to the pillow and lays his head on it, then settles the rest of his body down. You feel the bed dip.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Y/N works on the reality gem with Tony and Bruce, and has to deal with Tony's own version of what he saw between you and Loki. A cathartic training session with Nat relaxes Y/N. Progress is made on the reality gem!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the love on the first one! By the way, I'm posting this fic on tumblr too! (ancientwastedlores on tumblr). This chapter is mostly about Y/N, and what they get up to on a day to day basis :)

Tony likes to hand out the agendas of the day to the Avengers personally. He jogs around the tower with a stack of papers, wearing his tracksuit and headphones, a habit Pepper encouraged, since he never actually leaves his lab to do anything physical.

He gently opens the door and places the sheet on a table placed right next to the door. That table is specifically for the agendas. You once threw your keys on it and Tony passive aggressively made a point of picking up your keys and placing them on the floor to place his sheet.

You’re still in bed with Loki, who is facing away from you and snoring lightly. Tony opens the door to place the sheet and notices two heads instead of one in your bed. He moves closer to see Loki, widens his eyes, and promptly runs out.

‘What?’ Nat asks, running past Tony, then stopping.  
‘Loki!’  
‘In her room!?’  
‘Yes!’  
‘I…’ Nat is trying to peer in through the crack Tony left open. ‘Are you sure!?’  
‘Do YOU want to look?’  
‘No!’ Nat nearly shouts.

Tony shuts the door. ‘I’ll talk to her about it later’.

‘Good, I’m not going to’ Nat says, then places her headphones back and continues running.

xx

Around 8 AM, after Loki has left your room, you change into your field uniform and walk to the kitchen. The rest of the Avengers, including Loki, are in there, and the cook is making bacon and eggs.

‘Hi Samantha’ you greet the cook. She smiles back at you. You pour yourself a cup of coffee and Tony grabs your arm, making you nearly spill the coffee.

‘Hey man!’ you yell.  
‘Please tell me you aren’t sleeping with Loki’ Tony hisses.  
‘What… no! I’m not, let go of my arm!’  
Tony lets go. ‘I saw him in your bed’.  
‘Yeah, we just had a heart to heart about our past and fell asleep, it’s no big deal’.  
He narrows his eyes at you. ‘You confided in Loki about your past?’  
‘Well, him more than me’.  
‘Uhuh’.

You raise an eyebrow at Tony. ‘It’s fine’ you assure him. He doesn’t believe you, which is clear in his face, but walks back to the dining table.

You grab a plate for yourself and get some fruit, eggs and bread. You take your seat at the table and join in on the conversation everyone’s having.

xx

‘Right’ you announce, walking into the lab with Bruce and Tony. ‘TODAY is the day we speak to Harry’.  
‘Harry?’ Tony asks.  
‘Yeah. The Reality Gem’.  
‘You named the Reality Gem “Harry”?’ Bruce asks.  
‘Yes. You know, the redheaded prince of England. And the Reality gem is Red’ you grin, proud of your name. They roll their eyes but laugh, and go to their respective workstations.

Doctor Strange had found a way to speak to the Time Stone, and provided everything he could for you to be able to do the same with the Reality stone. He had done everything save for actually coming down the lab, which he couldn’t because he had to be at the Sanctum Sanctorum. But you had gone through every single paper he sent, every theory you talked over, and every idea you shared. After a while, it was clear that the code to cracking all the stones wasn’t the same, and so you’d have to start from scratch for every stone.

Frustrating as it was, you did love a challenge.

‘Maybe we should just build a body around it like we did for Vision and let it literally speak to us’ you say, frustrated, a few hours later. 

‘We did consider that. We even have the technology for it, but we can’t have six people walking around with stones in their heads’ Tony says.

‘Oh, is THAT the problem?’ you chuckle. ‘Not the insane amount of power and resources it would take, not to mention how the costs outweigh the benefits’.

‘She’s right, it took Thor to open the cradle last time’. Bruce says. ‘And if we give the stones a body, it could do anything’.

‘At least the stones restrict movement’ you say.

‘I don’t think the lack of a body would stop the stones’ Tony says. ‘Besides. Strange got his to talk while it still sits in that necklace, so I’m sure we can work it out. Did you read through the papers he sent?’

‘I did’ you say. ‘Twice over, made some notes if you’d like to see’ you project the contents of your laptop onto a hologram before Tony. ‘We’ve tried it the few ways Strange suggested, but what he actually did is very particular to the Time Stone’.

‘Series of time loops and manipulations in the mirror dimension’ Tony reads. ‘We can’t do that, of course, we don’t even know how to use it’.

‘Can’t we take the reality stone into the mirror dimension?’ Bruce asks.

‘What then?’ you ask. ‘It was purely an accident that Stephen even managed to speak to the stone. He managed to reverse and study his actions somehow to write a paper’.

‘So we’re stuck in the lab, then’ Tony sighs, and turns to walk to his table.

‘Unless you just want to take it to the mirror dimension and just mess around with it’ you say, half-joking.

Tony stops in his tracks. He promptly turns back to face you. You see the look on his face and push the hologram aside. ‘Tony, you know I love a mystery, but I wouldn’t advice getting stuck in the mirror dimension with an Infinity Stone unless you REALLY know what you’re doing’.

‘Strange did it’ he scoffs.  
‘Strange knows what he’s doing’ you say.  
‘Are you saying Strange is smarter than I am!?’ Tony demands.

Oh dear.

‘I’m saying he knows more about this’ you walk back to your computer and pull up another paper he sent you and project it to a hologram. ‘Read that’ you highlight a line using your fingers. ‘The mirror dimension is linked to the dark dimension, playing around with an Infinity Stone without understanding how to use it could not only trap you in the mirror dimension, it could draw you into the dark dimension’ you swipe the hologram away. ‘And I hate to bring this up, but after New York, this should be the last thing you throw yourself into’.

Tony sighs. ‘You’re right, kid’.

You close the holograms and walk back to your desk. Tony’s still standing in the same spot though. You sit down and pull yourself close to the desk.

‘You’re smart’ Tony declares.

You smile at him.

‘So I can’t understand why the hell you’d spend the night with Loki’.  
‘You did what?’ Bruce shouted.  
You glare at Tony. ‘THANKS’.  
‘YOU SLEPT WITH LOKI!?’ Bruce’s voice is unnaturally high pitched.  
‘I did no such thing, we were talking and fell asleep!’ you defend yourself. ‘Can we get back to the stones’.  
‘Just…’ Tony leans over your table. ‘Promise me you won’t let this be a thing, he’s dangerous’.  
‘Hey, I can take care of myself. And he’s more like you than you think’.  
‘I take offense to that’ Tony says, without actually sounding or looking offended.  
‘You don’t like being compared to a God?’ you ask teasingly.

Tony smirks. ‘You got me. I’m going back to work’ he finally turns away to sit at his desk. The three of you continue working.

xx

At last. The training room. You walk into the roomy glass cage that has an arsenal of knives, swords, spears, guns, and other alien weaponry lining the wall. You feel at home.

‘What we feeling like today?’ Natasha’s voice comes up behind you.  
‘I’m feeling the katanas’ you say, your hands running over the colourful handles of the katanas.

Nat takes a pair for herself, and you take yours. ‘Hand to hand first’ Nat says. As is usual. You place the katanas in the harness strapped to your back and take your fighting stance.

Nat goes to punch you and you block it. Her other hand comes to chop at your neck, which you also manage to block by holding her wrist, then flipping her over so she lands on her back.

‘At least give me a challenge’ you tease.  
‘Just getting your ego up so I can bring it crashing down’ she smiles, as she gets up. You know she’s not lying.  
‘You’re terribly mean’ you say. You take your fighting stance once again.

Two hours later, after your session with Natasha ends, you place the Katanas back on the wall. ‘Can I take these on the extraction mission?’

‘You can take anything you want. Just don’t take too much, we don’t want to be weighed down’.  
‘Right’ you look at the katanas. They really are gorgeous. ‘Where did we get these?’  
‘They used to be Lady Sif’s. She left them with S. H. I. E. L. D, and S. H. I. E. L. D gave it to Tony’.

You touch the handles again, which has some Norse story etched on it in gold and red tones. ‘They’re beautiful’.

‘They are’ Natasha agrees, unhooking her harness and placing it on the wall as well. ‘Do you know the story?’

You nod. You’ve grown up reading stories of Greek and Norse myths. ‘This scene is Odin stealing poetry from the Giants and flying back to Asgard with it’ you point at something in the handle. ‘That’s earth. As Odin was flying over Earth, some of the poetry spilled here, which is how we have the art form’.

You stare at the handle a while longer.

‘Do you have a thing going on with Loki?’ Natasha asks.  
‘What! No! How many people has Tony told?’  
‘Just me. I happened to pass by when he left your agenda’.  
‘Bruce knows too’.  
‘Bruce!? Why?’  
‘Cuz Tony can’t shut up’ you say.  
‘Does it bother you?’  
‘Him not shutting up or people knowing about it?’  
‘The second one’.  
‘I don’t really care’ you shrug, knowing that it was inevitable, ‘But I know how silly rumours can affect people, so I wish people would stop spinning it like that for Loki’s sake’.  
‘Right’ she nods, understanding. ‘I’ll make sure no one else knows’.  
‘Thanks Nat’ you smile at her. ‘I have to shower and go back to the lab. Bye!’

‘Bye!’

xx

‘We’ve made progress!’ Tony yells at you as you walk back in.

‘That’s excellent!’ you know Tony is absolutely dying to tell you what he uncovered, but you aren’t going to give him the satisfaction of telling you immediately for outing your little sleepover to Bruce. ‘But you should eat first’.

‘Yeah yeah, listen to this, so Bruce said…’  
‘No, I literally meant eat first, talk later’.

Tony looks like you’ve just slapped him. ‘It’ll take a second’.

‘I won’t hear it until you’ve had something to eat’ you unwrap the falafels and shawarmas you got from the food truck downstairs.

He glares at you, grabs a falafel, takes the smallest bite and sets it back down again. ‘Now…’

‘Actually, I could eat too’ Bruce walks over to grab himself a shawarma, and proceeds to open the wrapper very, very slowly.

You grin at Tony. Understanding that there really is no way you will listen, he sits down to eat a proper meal.

After throwing away the wrappers, he comes and sits down next to you. ‘Bruce said it would be so funny if we got Vision to talk to it like it’s his cousin, and I got an idea’.

‘Okay?’  
‘They’re family!’  
‘Ohana’ you say, still chewing and looking at him with dead seriousness.

Tony glares at you again, the occasional eating noises from Bruce making you internally lose it.

‘As I was saying, we don’t have to use the same Time Stone method, but we don’t have to completely abandon it either’.  
‘But they do vastly different things from each other, we even tried all the…’  
‘Yes, but you haven’t tried combinations’ he runs to your laptop. ‘I was going through your notes; look at what you’ve written here’.

You read it: "So basically it’s like those old rotary phones. Strange ran the dial to 6, then 4, then 9, then 1, until it dialled a number and made a call."

‘I was really sleepy when I wrote that’ you say.  
‘We can’t crack the stone, we have to learn to first use it, then connect with it’.  
‘We’ve been over this, Tony, none of us know how…’  
‘No, I won’t do it’.

You were fully ready to shoot Tony down, but damn, he decides to be reasonable!?

‘I was thinking we can just put Vision in the mirror dimension and ask him to use it in a combination of ways. See what clicks. I mean if anyone would know, it would be Vision, right? Maybe if there’s a way to speak to him while he is IN the mirror dimension, we can remotely control it’ 

‘I’ll have to ask Strange first’.  
‘DO THAT’ Tony screams and Bruce jumps. ‘LET ME EAT MAN!’ he yells back.

You chuckle. ‘So… I'll email Strange then, shall I?’  
‘Yes. And kid?’

You roll your eyes but smile at the endearment. ‘Yes?’

‘You did good. I couldn’t have done it without you’.

You take the laptop from Tony’s hands and sit down to write the email to Strange.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! More coming soon.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Y/N and the Avengers enjoy a drunken evening to celebrate the progress with the Reality Gem, and Loki has a bit of fun with illusions.

After sending the email to Strange and helping Tony and Bruce around the lab for a bit, the three of you walk into the dining room with Tony loudly announcing ‘PROGRESS!’ 

Everyone cheers, and you take your seat at the table. ‘You can unlock the stone then?’ Vision asks. 

‘Yes, I’ve just asked Strange if he can help’.   
‘Good, Bruce told me I might have to speak to it like I’m a cousin, so I'm hoping for an expert's opinion’. 

You laugh. Everyone is served dinner by Samantha, and after some have said their prayers, you all begin eating. 

‘How’s prep for the extraction?’ Tony asks Natasha. 

You tune out now, and no one engages you in conversation either. You’re lost to people when you eat, everyone knows that. Your thoughts wander to Loki finally, something you’ve kept locked away the whole day successfully. You think about the stuff he told you last night. You liked the company, but you wouldn’t dare admit it; your lack of personal ties made it easy to go on your missions. Everyone else around you acted out of fear for their loved ones as they carried out a mission, and you liked not needing to feel that. No. You couldn’t take that responsibility. You continue your meal, and now you’ve already started thinking about the Reality Stone, and your little ‘Harry’ joke. 

After dinner, the Avengers head to the bar. The next day is a weekend, so people are letting loose. It’s been thirty minutes, and Wanda is already singing some Sokovian song. You laugh at the silliness of the mighty heroes unfold before your eyes; Thor is drunkenly challenging everyone to lift his hammer, and laughing at them as they all fail. Steve tries to again, and again, it moves ever so slightly, causing Thor some panic. 

You’re still sitting at the bar stool, sipping your second drink, when Loki comes and sits next to you. 

‘Hello’ he says.   
‘Hi’ you smile at him warmly.   
‘I tried to make the first drink you made me last night’ he smiles like a little child, and extends his glass towards you. ‘Try it?’ 

You take the glass and take a sip. The vodka is definitely watered down with cranberry juice, and the raspberry liquor was lacking, which didn’t give it the kick you like. 

‘Not bad’ you reassure him. ‘But it’ll take you about ten of these to get halfway to where you were last night’. 

He laughs. 

‘I’ll show you’ you hop off the stool and go behind the bar. You take the shaker and pour some ice into it. You pour about two shots of vodka and a little less than half a glass of cranberry juice, followed by some raspberry liquor. 

‘What’s that?’ Loki asks. ‘I didn’t add that’. 

You tell him, and he goes ‘aaaah’. You smile. Closing the shaker and shaking it, you prepare a glass with your other hand. You find yourself shaking it to the rhythm of the music playing in the bar. 

‘Now you pour’ you pour the drink into the martini glass, and top it with a comical number of umbrellas, which gets you a laugh this time. ‘Try it’ you slide the drink across the bar towards him. He sips and smiles approvingly. ‘Let me make you another’ he offers. 

You move from the bar, and he tries to recreate the drink. You take a sip and congratulate him on getting it absolutely right. 

You spend the rest of the night making different kinds of cocktails for each other. You teach him some good pairings, and he tries to experiment with things that shouldn’t go together, but somehow do. The rest of the Avengers are singing and dancing, some of them making grand confessionals of love to each other (mostly Tony and Bruce), but you and Loki are still at the bar turning your noses up and laughing at the terrible choice of green apple vodka with red bull. 

‘That was absolutely terrible’ Loki says laughing, pushing the drinks aside. He sits down next to you, and the two of you have worked your way to an old fashioned. You watch the others gather around Thor for some reason. 

‘You feeling good?’ you ask Loki.   
‘Very much’ he smiles at you. ‘Thank you’.   
‘It’s no trouble’ you pat him on the arm. ‘Do you want to head to where they are?’ 

He hesitates, and you notice, but he says yes. You both take your drinks and head to where the rest of the Avengers are; when you get there, you see Tony taking his fifth try at lifting the hammer. You wonder how a man barely able to stand wants to engage in Thor’s game. 

‘Hey, I haven’t tried yet’ you announce.   
‘COME!’ Thor says, his laughter booming. 

You give your drink to Loki and walk up to the hammer. The rest of the Avengers are howling and giggling, and you hear Tony go ‘I believe in you kid!’. 

You smile and grip the handle. You wink at Loki. Loki smiles back at you. You clear your throat and pick the hammer easily off the table and lift it over your head. You’re met with stunned silence. You’re sure that action alone sobered Tony up, and Bruce just starts to cry. 

‘How… what?’   
‘I am worthy’ you smile at him, still holding the hammer above your head. 

He is still absolutely shaken, and flops down on the couch, still staring at the hammer in your hand. He looks like he’s about to burst. 

‘Okay, I’m kidding’ you bring it down to your side. ‘It’s an illusion. Loki helped’ you grin as you place the hammer back on the table. 

Everyone looks at Loki. After a few seconds, Bruce breaks the silence, ‘I want a video of me holding the hammer up and mocking Thor, can you make that happen?’ he asks. 

Everyone laughs, including Loki, while Thor tries to protest. Everyone else’s requests for Loki drown out Thor’s complains, and having accomplished your mission, you take your drink back from Loki and sit down. 

xx

Later in the night, everyone else has gone to sleep. You’ve put on some soft lounge music and are sitting at the bar. You finish your drink and turn around in your stool to take in the scene. Tony is asleep on one of the couches. Vision is trying to drag Wanda back to their room. Thor has passed out hugging his hammer. Bruce is asleep sitting up in another couch, with Nat's head on his lap. A smile escapes you. You’d fight to the death for these dorks. 

You flip the lights off, so the only light in the room is from the city. Heading to your room, you hum a tune to yourself. 

You open your room door to see Loki sitting on a chair by your bed. He smiles when he sees you and holds up a DVD cover. ‘I heard it’s a good movie. Would you like to watch it with me?’ 

It’s a copy of _Doctor Who_ , Season 1. 

‘Where did you get that?’   
‘The library’  
‘We have a DVD library!?’ you exclaim. You didn’t think those even existed anymore.   
‘You’ve been in the tower for a year!' 

You shrug, saying you mostly just stream shows on your laptop and don’t bother with a DVD player. He points out that the TV in your room has been gathering dust, and now he knows why. 

‘Well, that’s not a movie, it’s a TV show. It’s about time travel’.   
‘Oh. Well, I hear it’s great’ he flips the cover in his hands nervously. 

You smile, knowing you’re the one he probably heard it from. ‘Pop it in’. 

He gives you the widest grin and goes to the huge flat-screen that’s been going to waste for the past year. He puts the DVD into the player and you grab the remote to hit ‘Play’. Without even thinking about it, you’ve made space for Loki on the left side of the bed again, and patted the side as he walked over. He gets in under the blanket with you, and sits there watching the first episode. 

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! More coming soon :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers all have plans outside the tower, so Y/N and Loki spend the weekend together. The extraction mission is close, and Y/N is asked to take it easy.

The next morning, you wake up with Loki’s arm and leg draped over you. You get out from under it and peer at the TV. It’s paused on the fourth episode. Maybe Loki saw you had fallen asleep, or maybe it was the other way around... you don’t remember. You leave him to sleep and go to brush your teeth, amazed at how completely normal you’re treating this to be. 

xx

For whatever reason, you’ve seen Tony Stark get drunk, but never seen him hungover. The man is a miracle worker. Bruce is holding his head in his hand, and no one else wants to talk, but Tony is practically bouncing off the walls. _He must have 15 cups of coffee in him_ , you think to yourself.

You sit down at the table with the Avengers, who all lift their heads to look at you.

‘What?’ you ask.  
‘It’s your turn to make the breakfast, didn’t you remember?’ Tony asked.

You shoot up, having completely forgotten that the cook doesn’t come in on weekends and the responsibility for breakfast and dinner falls on one Avenger a week.

‘Sorry sorry sorry, I’ll get right to it, give me a few minutes’.  
‘No worries, we’re still working on our coffees. We haven’t been up long’ Nat reassures you.

You smile at her and then run frantically to get your ingredients together.

‘Good morning’ Thor walks in, all smiles. Everyone else groans at the noise. Another man you’ve never seen hungover, but it would make sense for a god, wouldn’t it?

Bruce turns to look at Thor, then narrows his eyes. ‘Did I… Did I cry last night?’

‘Yeah, you cried because that child over there…’ Tony points at you, ‘lifted Thor’s hammer’  
‘I’m not a child, I’m 22 years old’ you protest.  
‘Yeah, okay kid’ Tony says.  
‘Hello’ Loki greets and another round of groans greet him. 

You quickly jump to defend that to him, ‘They’re just terribly hungover, Loki’.

He smiles at you and walks over. ‘Can I help you?’  
‘You actually can. Tell me you know how to make poached eggs?’  
‘I wish I could’  
‘Can you toss some tomatoes around in a pan?’  
‘Never done that before, I could try?’  
‘Can you slice the bread?’  
‘Yes, that I can do for you’.

You hand him a large bread knife and a loaf of uncut brown bread, and instruct him to cut the slices thick.

Tony’s eyes widen at you handing Loki a knife that large, but says nothing. You notice, and badly wish to make a show of it, but decide not to.

You turn to the stove to make your poached eggs, while the crust of the bread cracking under the knife act as music to your ears. You don’t cook much, but when you do, you love to smell and touch and hear everything. Loki cuts the slices as instructed, and after toasting them, and places them all on plates, ready for you to lay the eggs on them. You add tomatoes and mashed potatoes to the plate as well, and wash your hands quickly to cut some fruit.

Loki leans over as you cut an apple. ‘Can I show you something?’ he asks.  
You look up from your task without stopping it, ‘Of course’

He creates five clones of himself, which each take two plates and walk to set them down on the dining table. You laugh. ‘That’s amazing!’

Everyone else is sceptical, but hearing your laughter, they stay put. They still glare at all the Lokis setting their plates of food down, but the clones promptly vanish after the task. 

‘You could cook us an entire meal and not lift a damn finger’ you tell Loki. 

He looks genuinely glad you enjoyed the show. He takes the one remaining plate that’s yours and waits for you to bring the fruits over. You finish up, wash your hands again, and sit at the dining table with the rest. You notice Loki has shifted from his usual seat to one right across from you. You steal glances at him while you eat, recounting the previous night when you watched _Doctor Who_ together. However, it’s the episode you keep recounting, not actually sitting next to Loki watching it.

‘What plans today?’ you hear Tony ask. ‘Pep and I are going down to Clint’s, he said he needs help fixing up some farm equipment’.  
‘Can Bruce and I join?’ Natasha asks, to which Tony says yes.

Everyone else has plans outside; Rhodey has a camping trip planned with his friends, since it’s a three-day weekend. Vision and Wanda are moving out of the tower to a nearby apartment, and want to set that up, and Thor wants to take Jane to Asgard.

After everyone has ticked off their plans, they ask you what you plan to do. Normally, you join in on whatever Tony is doing, other times you meet with your friends from back in S.H.I.E.L.D, but you see that Loki has no plans, and no one has included him in theirs either. You look across and notice him picking at his food, trying to not think about it.

‘Oh, I’m staying in the Tower with Loki and marathoning _Doctor Who_ again’ you say.

You feel Tony’s gaze burn into you, while the others silently continue to eat.

‘Have fun’ you hear Bruce say. It sounds forced.  
‘You too’ you still say.

xx

You walk into the lab to pick up a few papers and see Bruce and Tony.

‘Aren’t you guys leaving?’  
‘Yeah, in a second, we just needed to put the stone back. Can’t leave it open for an entire weekend’ Tony says.  
‘Hm, fair enough’ you go to your table and pick up another set of papers Strange sent over. He certainly has you doing a lot of reading!

‘Do you want one of us to stay back?’ Tony asks.  
‘Whatever for?’  
‘You KNOW what for, you can’t be alone with him in the Tower’.  
‘I’m NOT alone, the tower is full of security and staff... although why the Avengers Tower needs security, I don't know'.   
‘You know what I mean’.  
‘No, I really don’t’ you’re getting a little annoyed now. ‘Can you honestly tell me you wouldn’t have preferred ONE person being on your side vouching for you, being there for you, when you thought the worst of yourself a few years ago?’

Silence. 

  
‘Well, why does it have to be you?’ Tony asks. 

  
‘Because... it’s no one else’ you sigh. ‘Because I’ve been here for a whole year, he has been here longer, and in all that time, it’s been no one else. And I know what that’s like. YOU know what it’s like, how can you let anyone feel that way when you personally know how terrible it feels?’

‘He just wants you to be safe’ Bruce says.  
‘I know’ you place your hand on Tony’s shoulder. ‘Tony, the burden of the world doesn’t fall upon you. You don’t have to be responsible for every single thing’.

He looks at you, his face inscrutable. He finally shrugs and pulls you into a hug. ‘You be safe, okay? If there’s literally anything, you call me. I don’t care if it’s 4 AM and you’re dead, you call me’.

You laugh. ‘I’ll keep that in mind, assuming the after world has good phone reception’.

‘If you’re carrying the phones I issued, they'll work anywhere’ he lets go and winks at you. ‘Now get outta here, go watch your time travel show’.

xx

You walk into your room, expecting Loki to already be waiting there with the remote in hand, but he isn’t. You wonder if he’s playing a prank on you and call out his name. Setting the papers down, you look behind the curtains, open up your closet, and check the washroom. Nothing.

_Where is he?_

Figuring he’ll appear when he wants to, you start on the pages Strange sent you.

About an hour later, the door to your room opens. You look up see it’s Loki.

‘Hey, where have you been!?’  
‘Where have I been!? Where have you been, I’ve been waiting for an hour’ he says.  
‘Aren’t we watching it here?’  
‘No, I told you, since we’re alone, I thought we’d watch it in Stark’s theatre’.

Oh _right_. Stark also has a theatre in the residential wing for movie nights. He mostly screens horror films, much to your annoyance, so you rarely ever go there. But you never considered watching your favourite TV shows on there.

‘That’s an amazing idea, why did I never think of that!?’ you push your notes and papers aside and get up.   
‘I also got the staff to get us some traditional movie snacks’ he informs you. 

You squeal and clutch his wrist, and pull him out the room as you do so before letting go quickly. You don’t know it, but you just sent tingles up and down his body, and he is now smiling the biggest smile walking behind you.

You sit at the back of the theatre, the seats next to yours and his full of snacks. Popcorn, cookies, nachos, chips, even hot dogs. You wonder how the conversation went between Loki and the staff member he asked to fetch all of this on a Saturday for just two people.

The marathon begins.

xx

Tuesday morning, the rest of the Avengers come in to work. You’re already awake, and decide to greet them all at the reception.

Rhodey trudges in first with his rucksack, stinking to high heaven. You gasp and try to push him away as he tries to hug you. ‘You took Stark’s jet, it has a freaking shower, Rhodes!’  
‘I thought it would be more fun to hug you like this, what’s wrong, don’t you like it?’ he asks innocently.  
‘Shut up, go take a shower, oh my god my eyes are burning’.

He laughs and drags his rucksack along.

Tony and company come next, carrying their bags. Clint is on the phone, most probably with his wife. You greet them, and Tony asks how your weekend was.

‘Excellent, I may have put on a little weight with all the snacks I ate, so I have to work extra hard this week’ you joke.  
Natasha hugs you, and lovingly pokes your stomach. ‘You’re back on training right after breakfast'.   
‘Yes ma’am’ you give her a small salute.

The rest of the company moves along and Bruce stays back. ‘Are you good? Tony was worried’.

‘Yeah, I had a great time. We literally just watched the show and ate’.  
‘Okay…’ Bruce sighs from relief. ‘Good to hear. I’ll see you in the lab’.

Thor comes in next. You greet him too, and he wordlessly walks up to you and envelopes you in a giant hug.

‘What’s happening’ you ask.  
‘Heimdall saw you’.  
‘That’s the watcher dude?’  
He laughs, still holding you. ‘Yes, the watcher dude. The watcher dude says Loki hasn’t been this happy in ages, and I think you’re doing a good job’.

You weren’t trying to do anything, but you're glad to learn Loki is in fact enjoying your company. ‘It’s no trouble. He’s fun to spend time with, we enjoy a lot of the same things’.  
‘Like what!?’

You wish you hadn’t said that, because what you’ve spent the weekend talking to Loki about is the Infinity Stones. Not the sentience, because you knew that would be a bit much, but certainly about its powers, the previous owners, the seventh that was destroyed by Adam Warlock, its place in the cosmos, and much, much more.

You can’t tell Thor this, of course, because it would be interpreted differently.

‘Just, you know. Time travel. And other planets. He told me about Asgard’. This wasn’t a lie.  
‘That’s nice’ he smiles warmly at you. ‘Well, I have some work in Asgard, I only came to drop Jane off and thank you. Goodbye’.  
‘Bye’ you say. You hear a thud, the Tower shakes, and Thor disappears.

Finally, Wanda and Vision walk in and greet you. You aren’t that close with them, but you're always nice to each other.

You go for breakfast, and things go on as usual.

xx

There’s a week left for the extraction mission, and Tony informs you that he expects it to take about a week, five days if he were coming, but he isn’t, causing Natasha to roll her eyes.

A group of arms dealers are expected to be in New York next week. Your mission is to infiltrate the warehouse in Queens, where they are working. Tony has found out they will be getting a new shipment of weapons in a week, and bit by bit, your team is to break down their networks in Hong Kong and Dubai.

You’ve been on field assignments before, but never this long, nor this big. Nervousness isn’t even a word in your dictionary, you’ve been preparing for this so long, you feel like you could kill it in a single day. Tony senses your fire and has been “subtly” trying to direct that energy into training.

‘I know what you’re doing, I’ll be fine’ you protest.  
‘I just don’t want you bouncing off the walls during the mission. I know how excited you get’.

Even Bruce wants you out of the lab after a point because you won’t stop talking and walking around, being a total distraction. Bored, and having trained _and_ training new S.H.I.E.L.D recruits, you decide to see what Loki is up to.

You walk in on him reading in the living room.

The living room is huge, furnished in white with subtle gold embellishments. Tony considered asking every Avenger giving their personal touches here and there, and decided it wouldn't work, because Thor wanted red, Natasha wanted black, and Vision thought minimalism was a good idea, while Rhodey disagreed and asked for a water feature. So Tony listened to no one and just did what he wanted.

‘What are you reading?’ you ask, walking in.

Loki shows you the cover. _American Gods_.

‘Why are you reading that?’  
‘I think it’s amusing how the writer has painted Odin’.

You smile, remembering that in the story, Odin is a fallen god. 

‘I leave in a week’ you say.  
‘Yes, I know’ Loki says, without looking up from his book.

You wait for any sort of acknowledgement that he’ll miss you, or at least to be safe. When you get nothing, you shrug and sit down across from him.

‘I’m bored’.  
‘Uhuh’.  
‘Do you wanna fight me?’ you ask, quite casually.  
‘What!?’

You grin at him. ‘I’m bored, and also excited about the mission, and I don’t know what to do with all this energy’.  
Not having sparred in ages himself, Loki puts his book aside and stands up. ‘Where?’  
‘Training room’.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'll admit it - I wrote the entire fic (about 50k words) in about three days last year, so breaking it down into chapters is a little weird. But I personally prefer reading series over one-shots so I decided to post it chapter by chapter. Plus, since I'm done with it, I can post a new chapter every day. 
> 
> Thank you for reading :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Y/N trains with Loki, and it's not exactly a good natured fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Rough fighting.

Once in the training room, he looks at the wall with all the weapons. You naturally gravitate towards the katanas, which he spots you pick up.

‘Is that…?’  
‘Yes!’ you show him the handles. ‘Odin stealing poetry from the Jotuns’.  
‘How do you know!?’  
‘I grew up reading those stories’.

His eyes widen, undoubtedly the possibility of you knowing stories about him as well running through his mind. You figure it out, but say nothing.

‘The katanas are your favourite?' he asks.   
‘I wouldn’t say that, but I do find myself getting really good with these lately. I’ve considered taking these on the mission’.

Loki turns away to inspect the other weapons on the wall. You strap the harness on and place the katanas in. ‘Whenever you’re ready’.

‘Oh, I’m ready’ he walks to the middle of the room.  
‘You don’t have any weapons’.  
‘I don’t need any’ he gives you a devilish grin.  
‘No magic’ you warn.  
‘We didn’t agree on that. Come on’.  
‘No!’  
‘Are we scared?’

You raise an eyebrow. You will _not_ be challenged. You take your place at the centre as well. ‘Don’t be offended if I stab you’

‘It wouldn’t make a difference’.

With flourish, you remove the katanas from behind you. You charge at him then jump, and you expect him to block you. He merely disappears and you fall flat on your face. You get up and look behind you, where he stands, grinning again.

 _Oh, it’s going to be like that, is it_. 

You charge at him again, jump again, and he disappears. You expect it and promptly take one of your katanas and stab the air behind you. It hits its mark. You turn to see the katana pierce his abdomen. You look at his face, but he’s still grinning. You feel a strong pair of hands grab your neck from behind and choke you and the Loki next to you disappears. You realise it’s an illusion again. You roll your eyes, drop your katanas, and break from Loki’s grip by flipping him over your body so he’s now on the floor. You smirk at him and go to pick up the katanas you dropped, except another pair of hands circle your stomach and pull you back, then throw you against the wall.

You fall, stunned. You didn’t expect him to be so rough on you. Oh well. You know he’s just going to keep using illusions, but at least it will tire you out, something no agent or Nat has managed to do. 

You continue fighting. At some point you stopped using the katanas and resorted to a gun after being frustrated. You manage to corner him and hold him at gun point. A clone comes up behind you to grab the gun, but you expect it now and just throw an elbow behind you, giving the clone a fake bloody nose. You smile at Loki.

‘Oh, there’s more back there’.  
‘I’ve fought of three bad guys while still holding onto a baby’ you brag.

He looks amused at that, ‘I still suggest you turn around’.

You roll your eyes and turn around, expecting something ridiculous like a whole room of Lokis. You’re greeted by a frost giant.

‘What the…’  
‘Meet Angr’ he says.

The Frost Giant, Angr, whose height is about the height of the room, moves like a cat. He ducks and grabs your leg, pulls you to the ground and disarms you.

‘You play dirty’ you accuse Loki.  
‘You asked me to fight’ he says, and you can hear the arrogance in his voice.

You're actually out of breath and quite tired, also something no agent has managed to do. You stand up and stare down Angr, which is not an easy feat since he towers over you.

‘Size doesn’t matter’ you mutter to yourself.

Behind you, Loki chuckles.

You’re quick too. Your gloves, provided by the kind Princess of Wakanda, are made of Vibranium and have claws. You use these to claw into Angr’s ice skin and climb up; you get to his head and mount it, his neck between your legs, and you position the claws at his neck.

‘Only an illusion, right?’ you ask.  
‘Of course’ Loki says.

You take a deep breath, and as a final gesture, you reach forward to grab Angr’s neck, then pull, expecting blood to go everywhere. But Loki has had enough of indulging you, and just makes the giant disappear, causing you to fall. You somersault in the air and manage to safely land on your feet. 

You laugh and lie down on the floor to catch your breath. Loki keeps standing in his corner, now dead silent.

‘Oh god, THAT was a workout’ you announce. ‘That was amazing, why haven’t I been training with you all this time?’ you jump on your feet to pick up the weapons you dropped.

He keeps silent. You pick up the knives, guns, katanas and a few other things you grabbed from the walls to fight. You’ve never felt the need to resort to all of them. You place them back on the wall neatly, while seeing your reflection in the clean metal. You’re actually bruised.

You don’t mind, but hope it clears up before you have to go.

You’re still a bit startled by how rough Loki played, though. You’ve had serious sparring sessions with Natasha and Maria Hill, who both at one point, lightly stabbed you and then told you to walk it off. Even new recruits who didn’t know how to control their strength caused you an injury or too without meaning to, which you recovered from. But with Loki, it felt like he knew exactly what he was doing, and didn’t want to stop.

It somehow it didn’t feel like a good natured fight, now that you think about it.

You decide not to bring it up immediately, though. It’s been about two hours, and you’re drenched in sweat. But you do want to bring it up when you’re watching _Doctor Who_ later in the night.

xx

After sitting locked up in your room for the next few hours, nursing your wounds on your face, arms, and back, showering, and reading a few research papers, you leave your room for dinner.

‘JESUS kid, what happened to you?’ Tony exclaims, as you walk into the dining room.  
‘Well, I finally met my match’ you laugh, pointing at Loki. ‘I haven’t bruised like that since my first month training with Natasha’.

Tony glares at Loki, obviously interpreting you incorrectly.

‘No, I asked him to fight me. It’s not his fault!' you jump to his defense. Well, it is a little bit, but you decide to keep that to yourself and confront him later.  
‘Uhuh’ Tony says, not totally convinced. ‘Sure. Sit down, we got your favourite’.

You take your seat across from Loki’s, who is avoiding looking at you and staring only at his plate. Everyone wants to ask about your sparring session with Loki, more out of concern than anything else.

You assure them it was fun, and the bruises don’t hurt that much, and you’ll be fine within the week.

‘We don’t have to have our session tomorrow’ Natasha says.  
‘No, I’m good, really’.  
‘Kid, you’re going to get yourself killed’ Tony warns.  
‘I’m fine, reall…’  
‘You’re taking an off tomorrow. That’s an order’ his tone is final.

You know not to argue with that.

Conversation continues as usual. You keep trying to make eye contact with Loki, who only stares at his plate. You let it go and let your mind wander to the techniques you used to fight Loki’s illusions, trying to store them in memory.

xx

It wasn’t just you who had a rough day. Tony and Bruce got tired of not getting anywhere with the Reality Gem, and moved to a new project for the time being. Bruce didn’t want to share yet what he was up to, but Tony threw himself into upgrading weapons for the extraction mission. Nat spent the day inspecting the S.H.I.E.L.D agents chaperoning them for the mission along with Hill. Sam Wilson was also asked to join, so he spent the day trying out the upgraded weapons for Tony in his lab.

Everyone agreed they wanted a drink, but you decide to just go to bed, since you’re tired. You do, however, take a few beers to your room. Bruce asks you to sit with them, but you really want to just sit in bed and watch TV and drink them. You bid good night to everyone and head to your room.

Loki’s in there with the season 5 DVD in his hand, sitting on a chair. You smile at him and show him the beers you got. ‘Dranks’.

He laughs.

You open a can and set the rest of the cans down on the floor. ‘So now that I have you alone’ you say. ‘What was that fighting all about?'  
‘You asked me to’.  
‘No, I know, but you went AT it. Like you were actually trying to hurt me’.  
‘You’re being dramatic’ Loki says, avoiding your eyes as he gets up to go the DVD player. You grab his arm and make him turn to face you.  
‘No, actually, I’m pretty sure I’m not. I’ve had intense sessions, and then there was whatever the hell you were doing. I’m asking nicely. Don’t make me ask again’.

His lips purse, and he studies you. There is no anger in your eyes. It does terrify him a little that you’re keeping calm.

‘Okay, fine, I don’t want you to go’ he confesses.  
‘So you were trying to what, give me a fracture?’  
‘I just wanted to show you how dangerous it can be out there so you would change your mind about leaving’.  
‘What!’ you start to laugh loudly. ‘You actually thought that would happen?’  
‘I don’t know. I thought it was worth a shot’ he furrows his brows. ‘You don’t have to laugh’.  
‘Loki, you could literally kill me and I’d still get up and go’.  
‘WHY?’  
‘Because I _want_ to’ you say firmly. ‘You can’t stop me. If it troubles you, I won’t ask you to fight with me again. But don’t try and stop me’.

You let go of his arm, and it drops to his side, his shoulders slumping. He looks at you sadly.

‘Loki... what is it?’ you ask.  
‘I’ve only just begun to feel like I belong, I can’t have you leave and maybe not come back’.  
‘I haven’t even left, and you’ve gone and assumed me dead?’ this sounds so much like your mother, who had already assumed the worst case scenario before you even sent in your application to S.H.I.E.L.D.

‘It’s purely selfish’ he admits, ‘but I don’t want you to go. Please…’ he grabs your shoulders, ‘…reconsider’.  
‘Loki, Tony wants me to go. But you have nothing to worry about. I’ll be fine’.  
‘I know you will be’ he lets go of you. ‘I hate to admit it, but you did a great job today, which is why I stopped’.

You inwardly congratulate yourself for impressing the God of Mischief, but a smile does escape you. He sees it.

‘Don’t get used to the compliments’ he chuckles. ‘I’ll put on the DVD. You can get into bed’.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in one day? Who am I!? ...this wouldn't happen if it weren't already all written and kept in my laptop, I assure you. Anyway. I won't make a habit of this, I promise, or I might run out of chapters quickly. I just had to get this one out.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Y/N is off to the extraction mission in Queens, NY. Soft Loki, badass Y/N. Peter Parker makes an appearance

It’s very obvious to the rest of the Avengers that Loki only started watching _Doctor Who_ with you so he’d get to spend the night in your bed. You know it too, but understand that he would spend it in anybody else’s room but his, because being alone at night haunts him. If someone else wanted to something about it, they would, and if they don’t, they don’t get to give their opinion about it.

And they know you aren’t about to listen either, so they keep shut.

The rest of the week passes like usual, with Loki sleeping in your bed and Tony playing concerned father and quippy teen at the same time. Then arrives the morning when you have to leave.

You wake up and don’t find Loki next to you as usual. You take advantage of the space and stretch, moaning loudly. You feel like you’ve cracked every single joint in your body, and sit up. You keep sitting, making a mental list of the things you need to prepare before leaving.

The dealers were expected at the secret venue at 7 in the evening, but Tony, being Tony, insisted the team get there a full 12 hours earlier. Natasha rolled her eyes and tried to convince Tony that two hours would be enough, but he wouldn’t budge.

The cars would leave at 6 AM. You look at clock and see you have a full hour before leaving.

The door opens, and Loki enters with a tray.

‘What! Aww, Loki’ you laugh.  
‘I thought you could use a breakfast in bed before heading out’ he grins as he walks to your bed, ‘I made it myself’ he exclaims proudly, placing the tray on your lap.

Well, there was no doubt about that. It was a plate full of fruits, a bowl of cornflakes, and some toasted bread. You were looking forward to digging into some pancakes and bacon before heading out to a gruelling mission, but the excitement in his eyes makes you abandon the thought completely.

You smile and ask him to sit and share the food. He obliges.

‘So you’re coming round to the idea of me going’ you tease. ‘What’s the matter, find another _Doctor Who_ fan?’

He looks severely offended and you immediately regret saying it. ‘I was only joking. Thank you for doing this, it’s lovely’.

His expression softens, and then he reaches into his pocket.

‘I know you’ll be fine, but I did take the liberty of an extra precaution’ he produces a small rectangular object, no larger than a fingernail. It’s silver, and has odd markings on it that glow green, and attached to a chain.

You start to protest because amulets are absolutely the kind of thing you’re against, when he clutches your arm. ‘Please’ he pleads. ‘It makes no difference to you, since you don’t believe in it, but for my peace of mind?’

‘Loki, if I wear that, and something does happen, you’ll blame yourself for the amulet not working properly’.  
‘No, I promise, quite the opposite…’ he unclasps the chain, ‘I’ll know I did everything I could, and you died because you did something stupid’.

You laugh. ‘Fair enough. You promise you won’t start beating yourself up?’

‘I swear on my honour’ he says, putting the chain around your neck. You tuck the amulet under your shirt, knowing if Natasha and Clint ever saw it, they would never let you live it down. You talk for a while longer while finishing up your breakfast, and then Loki leaves so you can change.

xx

‘Good luck, kiddo’ Tony slaps your arm. ‘Give ‘em hell’.  
‘Thank you’ you give Tony a small salute before getting into the car with Maria Hill, Clint, Natasha, and Sam Wilson.

xx

T-3 hours to the expected time of arrival of the dealers. You’re leading a group of ten agents, and everyone is already in position. You’re sitting, leaning against the wall with your group, circling a finger over your bullet proof vest which hides the amulet Loki gave you.

 _Ridiculous_ , you think. _But nice_. You smile.

‘What is it?’ an agent asks, seeing your smile.   
‘What? Nothing. Shush’ you say.

Natasha’s voice comes on the earpiece: ‘If anyone tells Tony this, they’re fired, but the convoy is here’.

You smile, knowing Tony would gloat for ages if anyone told him the convoy reached earlier than expected.

‘Alright gang, up up’ you stand up, and help a few up since they’re carrying heavy guns. ‘Look sharp, and if you find something weird, for god’s sake, don’t touch it. We got Thor for that’.

You put your helmet on and take a deep breath, waiting for instructions.

You hear the dealers come in, boxes being dragged across the floor, clicks of guns and clanging of metals.

‘Where’s the Vibranium?’ a voice comes. Someone mumbles something in another language.

‘He’s saying there’s another truck coming’ Natasha’s voice comes. ‘Nobody move until every single one of them is in the room and the door is shut’.

You nod at the rest of your team to ask if they understand. They nod back.

You return your eyes to the group that has just entered. You look up, just to scope the room, and spot a figure move. 

‘Yo’ you whisper as low as you can, ‘did anyone see that?’  
‘What the hell is that’ Clint’s voice comes over the ear piece.  
‘Oh, if that is who I think it is…’ Sam’s voice comes.  
‘Ssshh’ you hiss. ‘Wait’.  
‘Did you just shush me, don’t ever…’  
‘Ssshhh!!' you, Clint, and Nat say in unison. 

It’s a grave situation, but you can’t stop yourself smiling before returning your attention to the back of the room. The tall figure is still moving, shooting something that makes no noise.

‘For god’s sake’ you hear Sam’s disgusted voice. ‘It’s the spider kid’.

You inwardly groan. You thought Tony would have told him to stay away.

‘Tell me he isn’t our responsibility, please’ Sam says.  
‘If you want to die at Tony’s hands, sure’ you say. ‘Stark put a comms system in his suit, someone tell Stark to get him out’.  
‘We aren’t carrying cell phones. And we don’t know how he got in in the first place’ Nat says. ‘Let it just play out’.

You sigh.

You wait a while longer, and the ‘other’ truck arrives. After all the contents are loaded in the room, there’s a spat about payment, and then the truck guys clear off. The one you assume is the leader shuts the doors and walks over to one of the crates with a crowbar.

‘Hold it…’ Nat says.

You stretch an arm out to inform your team to stay as well.

You quickly glance back up, the figure is no longer on the roof. You dread that he’ll announce his presence at the wrong time.

And he does.

‘Anything here for me?’ you hear Peter shout. The dealers all cock their guns and turn around to point it at him.  
‘NOW’ Nat shouts over the comms.

You put your arm down and your team moves out, guns pointed at the dealers. From the right, Clint’s team enters. From the left, Natasha’s. Thor is on the balcony-like structure upstairs, looking over the whole congregation. Maria and Sam come from the North side. You have them surrounded.

‘Whoa, no way, you guys came!’ Peter exclaims.  
‘Get outta here, kid’ you yell.  
‘No way, let me help, I can help’.

You roll your eyes.

‘Ay, what the hell is going on’ one of the men say.  
‘Put your weapons down’ Nat shouts. ‘Turn over everything you have’.  
‘Yeah, that’s not happening’ the man laughs, removing a cylindrical object and throwing it on the ground, creating a force field around his own group, also trapping Peter.

You look up at Thor. He’s already swinging his hammer and aiming it at the force field; it hits its mark and the shield breaks so your team can move in. 

A fight ensues, with you managing to dodge most of the attacks, while also grabbing onto some of the new tech the dealers have left lying around to use it.

‘This is so cool!’ Peter yells, swinging from wall to wall, pinning dealers to the walls with his webs. Okay, maybe he is helping a little.

You manage to get every single one of them, either knocked out or pinned to the wall. Sam celebrates by slyly putting some of the new guns in his holster. You laugh and yell that you can see him, and he yells back ‘You see NOTHING’.

Peter is just gushing over what just happened. ‘I didn’t know you guys were coming, this is so cool, I’ve always wanted to be part of a strike team!’  
‘Peter…’ you start.  
‘And, and look at this gear, wow can I try that gun, I swear I’ll be careful…’

You take off your helmet. ‘PETER’.

‘Oh’

He sees your face. ‘Oh h-hey I didn’t know it was you, hi’.

You sigh, remembering his crush on you. ‘You’re in way over your head’.  
‘Mr. Stark says the same thing, you know, I’m much more capable…’  
‘Thank you for your help’ you say sternly. ‘I’ll inform Mr. Stark you did a great job today. But you have to go now’.

His eyes twinkle. ‘You’ll tell him I did good? Will you tell me what he says? Do you have my number? You can just text me what he says…’

‘Peter, honey, Tony has your number’.  
‘RIGHT. Yes, he does. Okay. Bye!’ he shoots a web to the ceiling and goes out of the broken skylight you hadn’t noticed before.

Everyone else is putting weapons back in crates, while the Avengers are talking at the middle of the room. You walk over to them. ‘Hey’.

‘How’d you get him to leave’ Sam asks.  
‘I just said he did good’ you shrug. ‘We’re sure these guys haven’t made any calls?’

Clint holds up a little device. ‘Blocks out any outgoing and incoming calls within a 2km radius’ he grins.

xx

Stark’s trucks arrive and the men get out to help load the crates in. Natasha and Hill oversee the operation, while Sam and Thor are in some conversation, and Clint helps you aid the wounded S.H.I.E.L.D agents.

While you bandage a woman’s arm, Clint walks over to borrow a pair of scissors. You hand it to him, and kneels down next to you.

‘Blink twice if you need help’ he says.  
‘Excuse me?’  
‘You and Loki’.  
You sigh, frustrated. ‘We’re friends’.  
‘I’ve been under his control. It’s easy to not understand the difference’.  
‘Clint, he doesn’t have any way of controlling me, okay?’  
‘You just look badly beat up’.

You finish bandaging the woman and she thanks you. You smile at her and stand up. ‘I appreciate your concern, I really do. And thank you for asking. But there really is nothing to worry about. I decided to give him a chance, and I think all of you should too’ you pat him on the back and walk towards where the trucks are.

‘Hey, the last of the crates are loaded, I’m just calling Stark’ Hill informs you. You nod and she leaves, her phone in hand.  
‘Off to Dubai, then. It’s a long ass flight’ Nat says.  
‘When are we leaving? I hope we land at night, it’s beautiful’ you say, remembering your time there  
‘I think we can manage that’ she grins.

After the driver calls something out to her in Russian, she responds and hits the side of the truck next to her twice. The engines start and the line of trucks head out to the Avengers Tower.

‘We follow through; can you get the team into the cars?’

You nod and rush back in, ‘Ya’ll got five minutes, get your asses in those cars’ you call out. ‘Anyone who needs medical attention, yell’.

One person from the corner of the room yells.

You turn to Natasha. ‘I’ll take him to the Tower and drop him off, get a new guy, and meet you at the jet’.  
‘You sure?’  
‘Yeah. Save me a good window seat’.  
‘You got it’ she smiles and sits in the car.

The rest of the group files in, and you’re left with a large black BMW. You haven’t driven in a while, but the car has sirens, so you hope people will just get out of your way.  
‘Okay mate, what’s your name’ you ask, as you pick him up.  
‘Paul’ he chokes out.  
‘Paul. Well, Paul, have you ever been inside the Avengers Tower?’

He shakes his head.

‘You’re in for the pampering of your life, if you manage to stay with me till the ride there, Paul’ you help him into the backseat of the car, and buckle him in. You run to the drivers’ side, get in, and flip the sirens on, driving at top speed to the Avengers Tower.

You make a call while rushing through the streets of New York. Over the bluetooth - ‘Hello?’  
‘Tony! Okay, I’m bringing over Paul, he was hurt badly in the fight…’  
‘Yup, Nat told me, med crew is already at reception’.  
‘Excellent, I also need you to keep a S.H.I.E.L.D agent ready for me to take as a replacement’.  
‘Also downstairs waiting, with full gear’.  
You just love this man. ‘You’re awesome, Stark’.  
‘I know, kid. See you soon’ he hangs up.

You pull up to the entrance of the tower and the med crew rushes to help Paul out of your backseat, which is covered in blood.

Fortunately, Tony also has another car waiting for you.

 _This man is on another level_ , you think, chuckling.

‘Take care Paul!’ you yell. He gives you a thumbs up.

The new recruit comes up to you. ‘Hi, I’m Sean’  
‘Hello, Sean. Get in, we’ll talk’

He gets into the new car and you’re about to get in as well when you hear your name called out and turn around. It’s Loki.

‘Hi! I have to leave…’  
He comes up to you and gives you a hug. ‘I forgot to give you a hug before you leave’ he holds you tight.  
‘Oh’… you smile against his chest and hug him back. You’ve removed your bullet proof vest now, so it’s just a shirt. Loki can feel the amulet through it, that’s how tight he’s hugging you.  
‘Take care’ he says, and lets go.

You grin and turn to get into the passenger side, then shut the door. Off to Dubai, then.

* * *


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The extraction mission continues in Dubai and Hong Kong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a lot less Loki in this chapter... I'm trying to get a sense of Y/N's character without Loki around, but we'll get back to him in the next chapter :)

You _do_ manage to arrive in Dubai at night time, and it looks every bit as breath-taking as you expected.

After landing, the door is popped open by the hostess and a man walks in with a clipboard, wearing a S.H.I.E.L.D windbreaker. You see to your surprise that it’s a familiar face. ‘Fury!’ you exclaim.

He nods at you and takes a seat. ‘Right, they’re all based in International City, which is quite a drive from here’.

‘International City?’ Clint asks.  
‘Yeah, they have sectors of houses and shops within it, all built to represent different countries of the world’ you provide.

‘Looks like you got yourself a tour guide, then’ Nick points at you with his clipboard. ‘You are tourists, nothing more. You’re staying at the Premiere Inn. It’s not fancy, doesn’t have to be. It has to be close to where they are. They’re expecting visitors from London tonight, and meeting at a club in the middle of Dubai, but there will be no arms exchanges there. However, to be sure, I will be there with my team. The rest of you will be stationed in disguise in and around the China cluster, where we are expecting it to go down. Don’t go heavy on the equipment, take what’s quick, light and effective. These things happen in public there, so let’s keep casualties to a minimum’ he stands up, ‘you’ll be taking a tour bus to the hotel, I suggest you all change out of your gear, and then get your stuff in the bus. You’ll hear more from Stark later’ he salutes the group and leaves the flight.

The group, everyone except for Nat, Clint, and Thor, are in awe.

‘He is SO COOL’ one of the agents exclaim.  
‘I know; he just saunters in with all that swagger…’ another agent gushes.  
‘Alright then’ Clint says, rolling his eyes. ‘Change, let’s move’.

xx

You’ve laid out all the weapons you got for the mission out on your bed. A proper arsenal. Nat’s bed looks the same, knives, tazers, blasters, guns and various other things strewn across her bed.

‘Okay, when we say light… how light are we talking?’  
‘Anything we can conceal under a dress or a jacket’.  
‘So these are out’ you sigh, throwing your katanas to the back of the bed, disappointed.  
‘We're fighting men, not alien monsters, you can't use those' she says, chuckling.   
'Let me dream, Nat'. You pick up another weapon. ‘If I wear a trench coat, I can take the Chitauri M4’.  
‘I don’t know how people perceive trench coats here, but I give you my blessing’.

She grabs a small silver and blue handgun, which you recognise as being another Chitauri weapon that blasts an incapacitating screech in the direction it is pointed, rendering the victim completely helpless.

You decide on a C M4, a few knives concealed in your jeans and socks, your trusty Vibranium gloves, and two guns that Stark made which never run out of bullets.

Then you wait.

xx

Dubai sure is glamorous, but the spot you’ve all been assigned sure isn’t.

Of course, arms dealers aren’t trying to bring attention to themselves either.

You’ve stationed the ten people under you to various spots around the area, and are sitting in an outdoor coffee shop with Sam, overlooking where the exchange is expected to happen.

‘Got eyes on the entrance?’ Nat asks over the comm.  
‘Yeah. I got a guy at the entrance pretending to wait for an Uber’.  
‘Copy that. Nick said they’re on their way here, so any second now’.

You lean back in your chair and take a sip of your coffee.

‘How do you know so much about this place?’ Sam asks.  
‘I used to live here’ you say. ‘Spent about five years here with my family before moving to New York three years ago’.  
‘How was it?’  
‘Amazing’ you smile. ‘Gets hot as hell, but the winters are fantastic. And it’s so safe’.  
‘Are you forgetting why we’re here’ he motions to the building across the street.  
‘Well, I mean it’s one of those cities where women can stay alone and no harm comes to her. You can walk the streets alone at night and people don’t approach you. You can leave your laptop out in a coffee shop to visit the bathroom, and no one touches your shit’.

Sam looks sceptical.

‘You telling me no one even messes with your shit?’  
‘Yup’.  
‘Are people just honest or do they assume they have more money than you anyway?’  
‘Wow, probably the latter’ you laugh.  
‘Heads up, we got incoming’ you hear Clint on the comms.  
‘Hey, where’s Thor?’ you ask.  
‘You mean Dr. Donald Blake?’ Sam points at a guy in glasses across the street, leaning on his umbrella.

‘Pulling up at my 9 o’clock’ the guy you stationed to “wait for an Uber” says.

Three black Nissan Patrol Platinums pull up to the entrance.

‘When we moving in?’ Sam asks, ‘We can’t see past those cars’.  
‘I do not have eyes on them. Clint?’ Nat says.  
‘I see them' Clint replies, 'move on my signal’.

You set your coffee down and position yourself to stand up any second.

The cars drive away, and you see a group of men, dressed quite casually, cross the street and head to the coffee shop where you’re sitting.

‘Hold it’ Clint says.

They sit down and order some coffees. And you notice the other patrons of the coffee shop get up and leave as soon as they order their coffees.

‘Okay… what’s happening’ Thor says.  
‘Obviously these guys know something we don’t’ you say.  
‘The whole street has cleared’ Nat observes.  
‘So it’s just us and them? Yeah, not suspicious at all’ Sam cracks. ‘Let’s move in now’.  
‘I don’t see any weapons. We aren’t moving till we see arms’ Nat says.

Sam leans back in his chair, but you keep your position.

‘They may not take out any if they see us’ you point out.   
‘They know of four people watching them’.

You take a deep breath and stand up. ‘Send a black sedan for the agent across the street in five seconds. Thor, move out’. Sam stands up with you and you walk down the street.

You’ve left a microphone at the table where you were sitting, which is able to pick up audio from the next table.

They have a discussion in a foreign language.

‘He just asked him to check the surrounding buildings’ Nat says.  
‘Are you in there?’ you ask.  
‘You know you can't ask me that’.

You sigh and lean against the wall, waiting. 

After ten minutes of complete silence, Nat’s voice comes on the comms. ‘I see the weapons, we’re moving in. Two of you, move in from the east’.

‘Copy that’ you remove the C M4 you’ve been hiding under the coat and grin. ‘Finally, baby’.  
‘You know; the love you have for weapons that tear people apart kinda turns me on’ Sam says.  
‘I bet it does’ you wink. ‘Let’s go’.

xx

_Oh, do bad guys never learn._

You take a look of the aftermath of the fight and laugh to yourself. You strap the C M4 back in and cover it with your coat. Stark foundation is already on the scene cleaning up the mess, and the cops have arrived to arrest the dealers. No casualties since the street was clear... well, except for the arms dealers themselves. 

After some negotiating between Fury and the cops, Fury manages to get full custody of the weapons to ship back to New York. Nat walks up to you. ‘Are you sure you don’t need to see a therapist?’

‘What’  
‘You were enjoying yourself a bit too much’ she points out.  
‘Damn, there’s nothing wrong with that’ Sam defends you.  
‘I’m fine, I just like a good fight, is that bad?’  
‘I guess not’ she looks at you up and down again, then walks back.  
‘Anyone injured?’ you call out.

You get No’s as a response and officially call the mission a complete success.

xx

‘Can we not stay for a day?’ you ask Fury, on the way back to the hotel. 'We're ahead of schedule'.   
‘I would say yes, but Stark is impatient to open up his new toys, and says he promised you and Romanoff a crack at it first’.  
‘Right…’ suddenly you no longer care about staying a day.  
‘We’re cleaning up faster than expected’ Fury says. ‘Usually we just watch for about two days and then move in, but I got here first so this one went quick. You’re on your own in Hong Kong’.  
‘Thanks Fury’ you smile at him. ‘For all your help’.  
‘No problem. I’ll see you around’ he lets you off at the hotel. The rest get down and head to their rooms.  
‘At least we spend the night in beds that aren’t flying’ Maria says.

Everyone agrees as they enter, say their goodnights, and retire for the night.

xx

The operations in Hong Kong, as promised by Fury, takes longer.

Nat, Clint and a few other agents were doing surveillance while you stayed in the stakeout van reading your papers for two days. No reason you can’t get ahead with the stones while you wait.

You hoped to have a breakthrough while sitting in that stuffy van with four other agents. None. You couldn’t even contact Stark to see how far he had gotten, but you suspected that it already took a lot of his energy not to pop open the crates with the weapons and go nuts, so maybe he hasn’t actually done anything about the stones.

Day 3 in Hong Kong, Day 5 of the mission: Nat enters your van.

‘They’ve already made the sale, so we have to split up’.  
‘Can we do that?’ you put your papers aside. ‘Won’t we fall short?’  
‘We don’t have time to strike them separately, they can easily alert each other. It has to be tonight, and we have to split up’.

You nod, understanding.

‘I’ll go with Clint and Hill and 10 agents, Sam and you can lead the other 10. I’ll get the dealers, you get the clients’.  
‘Who gets Thor?’  
‘Um…’

You can’t split Thor. And both of you need Thor, in case there is some sort of alien tech humans can’t touch.

‘You can take Thor’ you offer.  
‘No, that’s fine, you take him, and we’ll wait for him to clean up with you and come to us’.  
‘That’ll take too long, I have my Vibranium gloves, I’ll handle our clean-up’.  
‘We don’t know if Vibranium can withstand the…’  
‘Why don’t we toss for it?’ you take out a coin. ‘Heads, you get Thor, tails, I don’t get Thor’.  
‘Do you think I’m stupid’.

You grin. ‘Seriously take Thor. If it turns out I can’t use the gloves, I’ll hold the fort down till Thor comes to us’.

‘Fine’ she gives you a small salute and proceeds to leave. ‘My crew will move out in fifteen to their base, you stay here. The clients are right in this hotel…’ she points outside. ‘We strike at the exact same time’.

xx

‘We’re in position, where you at?’ Clint asks over the comms.  
‘Um. Yeah, we can't move in right now’. you say.  
‘What? Why?’  
‘Oh I don’t know, maybe because there’s a _wedding_ happening!’ you roll your eyes. ‘There’s too many people in there’.  
‘Do you see the clients?’ Nat asks.  
‘Coffee shop. They’ve left the bags behind the counter though’.

Nat lets out an irritated sigh. ‘The dealers will move out any minute, we don’t have time to lose’.  
‘Well, I can’t move in with a troop of 10 men with guns while there’s a wedding happening’ you say.  
‘No worries’ Sam says. ‘I got ya’ll’ he winks at you.  
‘I can practically hear Sam wink’ Nat says. ‘What is it’.

Sam removes a cylindrical object from his pocket, similar to the dealer boss in Queens.

‘You took the force field activator!’ you exclaim.  
‘Sam…’ Clint warns.  
‘We’re gonna discuss this later’ Nat says. ‘We’re moving in _right now_ ’.

You wave your hand and let your crew out of the van. Your agents move out from the other surveillance vans and all enter the lobby in formation.

The clients have taken notice of the group move into the coffee shop, and they all stand up, cocking their guns.

Sam moves in before you, holding the force field activator behind his back. ‘Don’t make this difficult man’ he says.

‘I think it’s going to be difficult for you’ one of them say. ‘There’s a wedding happening in the hall across from this coffee shop, you wouldn’t want those many casualties, would you?’

In response, Sam smashes the activator on the ground, pushing a shield around the agents and the clients. One of the clients shoot, and Sam ducks, causing the bullet to ricochet off the shield and bounce back to hit the guy who shot it.

‘Smart move, jackass’ Sam laughs.

The clients charge, one of them yelling for someone to secure the bag with the weapons, but you’re already behind the counter.

‘Hi!’ you tell the man who tries to grab the bag, and hit his nose with the butt of your gun. He falls back, his nose bleeding.

‘Oh damn, I’m sorry, I know how much that sucks, I had a chronic nose bleed problem as a child’ you quip, dragging him behind the counter by his right leg. He kicks you in the stomach, screaming. 'But I wasn’t a little bitch about it’ you aim your gun at his head. He stops and glares at you. ‘Good boy, I’m gonna tie you up now’.

‘A little help?’ Sam yells, holding off two goons.

You stand up after having tied the guy and throw two silver balls at their torsos.

They scream and drop to the ground, sparks all over their body. ‘Oh shit no!!' you exclaim, 'I had something better, okay, next time you need a hand, call me’.

Sam gives you a thumbs up without even questioning it and runs off to help the other agents.

‘Listen, I’m gonna go help my friends’ you tell the guy tied and gagged behind the counter. ‘If you cooperate, I’ll put in a good word for… oh wait, you’re a terrible person. Never mind’ you jump over the counter, and in one swift motion, push yourself off with your hands and drop kick a goon.

‘Oy! Get this asshole’ Sam yells, motioning to a guy he’s holding by the throat.  
‘You have the situation under control’  
‘Yes, but I wanna see what you got’

You grin and take out a little metallic disc from your pocket. ‘Drop him’ you say. Sam obliges.

You throw the disk at the man, and as soon as it touches him, a cage forms around his torso, extending to his arms, forcing them behind him. The metal extends to around his legs, forcing him to kneel on the floor, and finally, a slab of metal clangs around his mouth so he can’t talk.

‘DAMN what the hell is that’ Sam clearly looks impressed.  
‘Little gift from Strange. He used it on Kaecilius’ you grin. ‘It used to be bigger, Stark made the whole cage sit in a tiny disc’.  
‘I don’t know who the Kae dude is, but that’s dope as hell, I want one’.

Another mission wrapped up, and two days before the expected date!

xx

The flight back is relatively chill. You were expecting celebrations and drinks and singing, looking forward to it almost, but this vibe is not bad either. There’s some soft lounge music playing in the background while everyone reads, writes, is in conversation, or just looking out the window. You, as usual, sit across from Nat, who is trying to sleep before landing in New York in the morning. You can’t seem to fall asleep though, so you decide to sit with some research papers.

An hour in, and you realise your heart’s not in it, in fact you’re even a little sick of it. You take out your TV from the armrest and watch an older episode of Doctor Who, almost missing Loki sitting next to you asking questions. You had gotten into the habit of giving his palms a little massage while engrossed in the show, so you start massaging your own as you watch the shenanigans of the Doctor unfold. 

Five more hours before you land in New York. You put the TV away and look around for anyone awake to talk to. Everyone is tired out and asleep, so you pull your blanket up to your chin and try to sleep too.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I appreciate all the support.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Bruce have been up to something (involving Loki!) during Y/N's time away, which thrills them.

The agents are dropped off at the Avengers facility, while you, Nat, Clint, and Sam are taken to the Avengers Tower. Thor went back to Asgard directly from Hong Kong.

Everyone had a chance to take a shower in the jet, so you’re feeling pretty refreshed going in. Some agents in the building greet you on your way to your room. Some offer to help with your bags and gear, you say no thanks, you got it.

You open the door to your room and see Loki in your bed.

The watch next to him reads 11AM. He usually doesn’t sleep this late. You let him be, and place your bags at the back of the room, and on your way back to exit the room, you stop by the bed to look. 

Loki sleeps peacefully, wearing his soft cotton pyjamas. It's meditative just to watch him breathe, so you smile and linger a moment longer. You look closer and see him hugging one of your hoodies . Your eyes widen and you quickly walk out, shutting the door behind you. You lean against the wall, unsure of what you saw, and why it was happening.

You honestly don’t know what to think, and know ignoring it won’t make it go away. You decide to ask Tony if Loki has been acting strangely or anything knowing fully he will say "I told you so". 

xx

‘I TOLD YOU SO’ Tony yells.

You just accepted that his idea of letting Vision go in the mirror dimension with the stone was good, after reading Strange’s email out loud.

‘When do we start?’ he asks, his eyes gleaming. He rubs his hands together, a wide grin playing on his lips. Surrounded by all his lab equipment, sparkling and whirring, it makes him look like an evil mad scientist.

‘We still don’t know how to use the stone. And we can’t let Vision puppet for us when we still don’t know what to do’ you explain.   
‘Vision would know’  
‘You sound unsure...’ you pat Tony’s back. ‘We waited this long, we can wait a while longer till Thor is here’.  
‘Isn’t it just hold and think’ he rolls his eyes.  
‘Tony, it’s not a sonic screwdriver’.  
He looks at you questioningly. You shrug. ‘It’s a Doctor Who thing’.

He turns to walk away.

‘I did want to ask though, um…’ you hesitate.

He looks at you, waiting.

‘Did Loki say anything while I was gone? Or… do anything weird?’  
Bruce, who has been listening, interjects. ‘He kept asking if we know how you guys are doing’.  
‘Anything else?’  
‘Nope. We haven’t seen him around too much’.  
‘We still see him at breakfast usually’ Tony provides.  
You furrow your brows. ‘Yeah, I uh…’  
‘What?’ Tony asks.  
‘Nothing, I just saw him in my bed hugging one of my shirts... I don’t know how to perceive that’.  
‘Well’ Bruce says. ‘If you don’t feel the same way, you should tell him before he finds out the hard way and goes insane’.  
You wrinkle your nose at the accusation. ‘Insane is a bit of a stretch. And I don’t know what I feel. I don’t know IF I feel’.  
‘Are you gonna ask him about it?’ Tony asks.  
‘I’m sure there’s a reason he hasn’t come out with it yet, I’ll just let him take his time with it’.

Tony nods, and returns to his work.

‘I will admit; I’m surprised you’re taking this so well’ you tell Tony.  
‘Uhuh…’ Tony keeps working.  
‘Uhuh? Why the change of heart?’

Bruce and Tony say nothing. You turn to look at Bruce, who is bending a little too much over his computer trying to avoid your gaze.

‘Bruce…’ you say.  
‘Hm?’ he says without looking up.

You look back at Tony and catch him glaring at Bruce.

‘Oh my god, something happened, tell me, tell me RIGHT NOW’ you exclaim.  
‘Bruce…’ Tony warns.  
‘LOKI KNOWS HOW TO USE THE STONES AND TONY SAID TO TEACH VISION’ Bruce blurts out.

Your eyes widen, and you look back at Tony. ‘WHAT!?’   
‘He heard Bruce and I talk about it and offered to help and I said okay’ Tony says, his tone a tad defensive.   
‘I TOLD YOU SO’ you skip behind the table and hug Tony. ‘Good on you for giving him a chance’.  
‘If you tell Natasha I allowed this, you’re fired’.

You roll your eyes, remembering Natasha give a similar threat in Queens. Tony and Nat are forever in some sort of unspoken competition.

‘So we don’t have to wait for Thor, we can start right away!’ you exclaim.  
‘Yeah, there’s another thing though’ Bruce gets up from behind his desk. ‘Loki said that the way Strange got his stone to talk was a hack- described it like the operating system of a computer’.  
‘Okay?’  
‘Basically, Strange hacked into the Time Gem, so the other stones strengthened their own, in a sense, operating systems. It’s going to take longer, and be tougher, with the reality gem’.  
‘We aren’t lacking time, so it’s fine’ you point out. ‘Strange did say he’s busy this month, so that gives Vision time to train’.

Tony and Bruce agree, and then politely kick you out of the lab to go rest after your week long mission abroad.

xx

Unsure of what to do, you just roam the halls, saying hi to random agents walking around. No one will train with you, because Tony ordered them to not let you. You don’t feel like reading another bunch of papers. You aren’t allowed in the lab. And Loki’s asleep, so you can’t watch Doctor Who.

So you go the kitchen and see what’s there to eat. Sam’s there, with Rhodey, describing the badass Kaecilius cage, and how it works.

‘Hi!’ you say. Rhodey waves at you.  
‘Okay, come here, I wanna demonstrate how the cage got that guy to fall to his knees’ Sam motions for you to come over.

You walk over to them and stand before Sam. He wraps his arms around your torso and pulls you to him. ‘So the tiny disk has these arms that go around your torso…’ he lets go and takes your wrists in his hands and pulls them back, ‘…pulls your arms back…’ he uses his foot to gently kick the back of your knees so you fall, ‘…hits the back of your knees with force so you hit the floor, and damn, it looks like the fall hurts…’ you can’t help but laugh, thinking of how odd this whole scene would look if someone were to walk in. 

‘HEY’

The three of you turn to look at the entrance, where Loki is glaring at Sam, clearly unaware of the gag here.

The next second, Loki teleports right next to Sam and pushes him off of you.

‘STAY BACK’ Rhodey yells, standing up and pointing an Iron Glove at Loki. They stare each other down.   
‘Rhodey, it’s fine…’ you motion for him to put his Glove down. ‘It’s just a misunderstanding’.

Sam gets up. ‘I’m good’ he announces.  
‘Loki, we were just showing Rhodey how this particular trap works, and Sam was using me to demonstrate’ you explain. 

Loki looks you up and down to check if you’re okay. You’re sustaining a few old bruises and cuts from your spar with Loki and your mission, but nothing too recent. He looks at Sam. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t know’.  
‘It’s no trouble’ Sam sits on the couch. ‘Just so you know, though, we don’t revel in beating each other up’.

You sense Loki remember the "friendly fight" before the extraction mission, and he starts to walk away.

‘Hey’ you grab his arm. ‘You wanna continue _Doctor Who_? I’m not doing anything’.  
‘Yes’ he smiles, relieved. 

xx

‘Matt Smith is undoubtedly my second favourite Doctor’ you declare, as the DVD loads.  
‘You said the same thing about Capaldi’ Loki reminds you.  
‘Ah, the second spot is interchangeable’.  
‘Who’s the first, then?’  
‘Jodie Whittaker’ you grin. 

Loki plops down next to you, and you hit play. The opening theme starts.

‘When did you get back?’ Loki asks.  
‘Around 11’.  
‘Oh…’

You internally scold yourself for not changing the time, because now you’ve gone and made him feel awkward. But he says nothing, and you allow it to be that way. The show starts.

xx

Weeks pass. Business as usual continues, with regular training hours, Loki and Vision playing around with the Reality stone, and Tony breaking apart and analysing the new tech. He has barely scratched the surface, and often asks you and Nat to come to the lab and test it out.

Weekdays consist of work, weekends have the Avengers drinking and having a good time. Everyone seems cooler with Loki too, which thrills you. You just want everyone to get along.

One of the weekends, Tony suggested karaoke. He only did it so he’d get to show off his rendition of ‘Fly Me to The Moon’, but everyone excitedly agreed.

So on the week, you see every Avenger spend a lot more time in their rooms, retiring early and coming to breakfast late, to practice for the weekend. Tony did say there would be a prize. You chuckled at how seriously some people took it, comparing them to little children. But once Nat asked you to listen to her belt out the Postmodern Jukebox version of ‘Oops, I Did It Again’, you started to get into it, abandoning your _Doctor Who_ marathons with Loki to practice in your room.

‘Can I watch you?’ Loki had asked once.  
‘Absolutely not’ you said. ‘You can wait till the weekend’.

Not watching TV with you till late night left no excuse for Loki to spend the night in your room, and you saw him struggle to come up with a story for two whole days - it was quite entertaining, but a little sad too. It ranged from "You left your phone in the kitchen, I'm just here to return it" to "I worked all day on the stones, do you want to just relax with a drink and a movie?". You thought of just offering, but told yourself that if he wants something, he should just ask and not expect it to be handed to him. You just threw yourself into prepping your routine, because you saw Thor had a routine, and you weren’t about to be upstaged by him.

Nat asks you at dinner what song you plan to sing, and you refused to say anything at all.

‘Mine’s a secret too’ Tony said, grinning.  
‘We all know you’re doing “Fly Me to The Moon”, Tony’ Nat says. Tony frowns, and everyone laughs.

Finally, one night Loki does just come and say he couldn’t sleep in his room alone, and asks if he can continue sleeping in your room.

‘Yeah. Why didn’t you just ask before?’ you ask.  
He shrugs. ‘I just didn’t want to ask too much of you’.  
No, that wasn’t it, but you smile. ‘It’s no problem. When I’m done with my practice, I'll let you know’.  
‘Or you can stay in my room?’ he offers.  
‘Nope’ you say calmly, but internally panic. In your room, you have control. You weren’t giving that up. 

He accepts and leaves, shutting the door behind him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter, Karaoke! Hope you enjoyed reading this chapter :)


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We got Avengers singing karaoke, and soft Loki taking care of Y/N for a change.

The night of the karaoke arrives, and it’s quite something.

The Avengers are all gathered in the bar, sat on a semi circle couch facing the platform. A few drinks in, and the night has officially begun. Clint starts with ‘Mad World’, which sets quite a sombre tone, much to Tony’s annoyance.

‘Hey, this is a FUN night’ he says, going up to the mic. ‘This is how it’s done’.

He proceeds to deliver an amazing performance of ‘Fly Me to the Moon’, earning a round of applause from everyone.

Thor, who hadn’t told anyone what he was singing, took the stage next. ‘Hello’ he says, tapping the mic. You’re sure he’s only doing that because he saw someone on TV do it. He clears his throat and gives Vision the signal to start his track. Beyoncé’s ‘Who Run the World’ comes on and everyone loses it. Your eyes and ears are adjusting to watching Thor, Mighty God of Thunder, dance while saying Girls Run the World. Everyone howls and raises their drinks to Thor, spilling a bit here and there, and you join in. 

The night continues, with Nat giving a stellar performance of ‘Oops, I Did It Again’ and Bruce practically fawning over her. You put a hand on his shoulder to stop him from possibly sinking to his knees and crying, because he is quite an emotional drunk.

Sam goes next, with ‘Can’t Feel My Face’ and you notice he’s quite a good dancer. And singer. God damn. Everyone joins in on the chorus, which only adds fire to Sam’s performance. Tony has started dancing while sitting now and you laugh.

Bruce, showcasing a vocal range no one, including Natasha, knew he had, sings Brian Reitzell’s ‘I Put a Spell on You’. Tony’s feeling this new voice, his head bobbing to the beat.

While Pepper goes up to sing ‘Cheap Thrills’ you realise the way you’re sitting for the first time. You don’t quite know how it ended up that way, but you’re on the floor cross legged with your drink, leaning against the couch. Loki is on the couch, and you’re sitting between in his legs. Whenever his legs sway to the music, it moves you as well, and you didn’t notice until just now.

You don’t see why this is worth thinking about, but you can’t deny it feels kind of nice.

Steve takes everyone by surprise by singing ‘Rolling in the Deep’, and no one quite knows how to respond as he triumphantly does an epic mic drop and walks to his seat.

Rhodey, who admits to having done less than zero practice, takes the stage to rap ‘DNA’, which he actually does flawlessly.

‘I call bullshit on the no practice’ Tony yells, once Rhodey is done. Rhodey shrugs and takes his seat again.

Wanda sings ‘Havana’, and while she isn’t a great singer, you discover she’s an amazing dancer. Everyone whistles at the end of her performance, and she bows.

‘You’re up, kid’ Tony gives your shoulder a gentle push. You down the rest of your drink and stand up.

You’ve had quite a few, and are officially tipsy. You take the mic and nod to Vision. Celine Dion’s ‘Ashes’ comes up on the stereo, and everyone sits in stunned silence as you sing, because no one knew you could ever sound like that. Sort of like the reception Bruce got.

You hit the high notes perfectly, and you can feel fireworks in your body. Ever the dramatic, you even make a point of falling to your knees when singing ‘…and when I pray to god’ the first time. The second time you say it, you literally fall flat on stage with an arm stretched upwards, causing everyone to laugh.

You finish and are met with applause and whistles. You bow and look at Loki. He’s smiling widely at you. You start to walk back to your spot and Loki stands up. You look at him questioningly and he winks at you, walking to the mic to take his place.

You had no idea he had prepared anything. You sit back down on the floor.

He nods to Vision.

‘Yo listen up, here’s the story, about a little guy…’

You’re gagging. Is he really doing this!?

‘…cuz he ain’t got nobody… to listen’ there’s a pause, and before the beat drops, Loki shifts to his Jotun form. ‘I’m Blue aba dee aba dye…’

Tony loses it. He’s howling so much you fear he may puncture a lung. Thor stands up to dance, and soon everyone is laughing and cheering Loki on. You’re still on your spot on the floor, but lying down laughing, tears coming out of your eyes.

‘…and a blue corvette, and everything is blue for him, and himself and everybody around, cuz he ain’t got nobody… to listen’ he stretches his arm out and drops the mic.

Everyone around you, positively drunk, is still laughing. Thor pats Loki on the back so hard, he almost falls down.

‘I think we have a winner guys’ Tony shushes the group. ‘It’s gotta be Loki’ everyone cheers. Loki shifts back to his Asgardian form, and thanks Tony.

Vision is now playing other music, so people get up to dance. Loki helps you up from the floor, which you are still lying on.

‘I can’t believe you did that, that was amazing’ you yell over the music.   
He laughs. ‘I’ve been practicing before you come to get me from my room at night’.  
‘I had literally no idea!’ you exclaim, still shouting. ‘And you’re so beautiful as a Jotun!’

You see his expression to change one of surprise. ‘Really?’

‘Yeah! Gorgeous!’ you yell. ‘I can’t scream anymore; do you want to move to the bar?’  
He smiles. ‘Absolutely’.

The two of you sit at the bar, watching rest of them dance.

‘Thank you’ Loki says.  
‘What for?’  
‘For this’ he looks around. ‘I wouldn’t even dream of spending the evening with the Avengers, singing and dancing, if it weren’t for you’. 

You smile warmly at him. ‘It’s my pleasure’.

xx

Around 2 AM, the last of the Avengers bids a loud good night before heading to their rooms. You yell back a good night and continue your conversation with Loki, who is actually drunk.

‘Okay, okay so…’ you finish the drink you were working on. ‘HOW did you get the idea that you want to dance around as a blue man to a song about blue people?’  
‘Honestly… I was hoping the alcohol would carry me through it’ he confesses. Both of you laugh hysterically.  
‘Tony absolutely went mad when you shifted, I mean, Loki…’ you squeeze his knee with your hand and lean forward to emphasise your point, ‘He LOST it’.  
He laughs harder. ‘I saw, and you were on the floor clutching your stomach’.  
‘I WAS!’ you say, laughing all over again.   
‘And Thor, oh wow, did you see Thor!?' he says excitedly, now really enjoying it. ‘WOW, that was a night’.

You’re trying to catch your breath too. There’s silence for a while, until the two of you are able to get it together. You pour yourself another shot and Loki grabs your arm.

‘I think we’ve had enough’ he looks at you.   
You raise an eyebrow. ‘You’re drunk and I’m not’ you say.  
‘You aren’t drunk?’

You shake your head. He withdraws his arm and lets you take the shot, surprised that he should feel the buzz before you. He is a god, after all. 

‘You’ve had the same amount as I have’.  
‘Yeah, I have an annoyingly high capacity’ you say. ‘It’s not healthy, but at least I don’t make a habit of this’.

Loki narrows his eyes at you. ‘I feel like every time there’s a party like this, you try to get drunk’.

‘Which isn’t a lot, so I don’t have a habit’.  
‘It’s a habit if you indulge in it to the point where…’  
‘Loki…’ you warn.

He keeps quiet. You get down to put the bottles back in the cupboard. He watches you place the clean glasses on the showcase, and wipe the bar down. Why this is your responsibility, you don’t know, but you decide you need to do something to ground you before getting annoyed at the line of questioning. 

‘Why do you have so much anger inside you?’ he asks softly.   
‘Excuse me?’  
‘I just…’ he purses his lips, as if re-thinking if he should do this. He decides to go for it. ‘You seem lovely to everybody, but I can’t help thinking it is to hide something’.  
‘I’m not a complicated mess to figure out,’ you say. ‘I’m nice because I want to be, if you think there’s anything more to that, you’re wrong’.  
‘Alright… I’m sorry’ he says. ‘Can I help you clean up?’

You shake your head and continue wiping the bar down. He gets up to leave, then turns around.

‘Can I still sleep in your room?’ he asks in a small voice.  
‘Yeah, I’ll be right there’.

He gives you a small smile and continues on his way out. As soon as he’s out, you plop down on the bar stool and stare at the glass counter top. Tears are forming in your eyes, and this time, they aren’t happy ones.

You reach below the bar and pull out another bottle, pop it open, pour a glass, and down the whole thing in one go. You put the bottle back, realising none of it can help. The floodgates are open. You spend the next few minutes holding your head in your hands, crying loudly and screaming, knowing no one can hear you. You need to let it out. You’re breathing heavily now, and feel like you might have a panic attack. You tip your head back and take a deep breath. Closing your eyes, you continue to take deep breaths. You can’t walk into your room with Loki in it, sniffing, making it obvious that you just cried.

After your heart rate slows a bit, you wipe your face with some tissues, finish wiping the bar, and head to your room.

Loki’s already in bed, you can’t tell if he’s asleep yet. Tired, and a bit sore, you kick your shoes off, remove your jacket and jeans, and get under the covers, facing away from Loki. As soon as you settle in, you feel him turn around and move closer. His hand circles around your stomach and he pulls you into him. ‘It’s okay’ he says.

You aren’t the tiniest bit comfortable with this role reversal, but are too tired to protest and fall asleep almost instantly.

xx

You wake up to Loki’s chest. Your first instinct is to pull away, but you know that’ll wake him up, so you stay.

His chin is resting on your head; his long arms are wrapped around you. You don’t know at what point during the night this happened, but don’t particularly feel like complaining. 

After several minutes pass, you try to gently pull away now, trying your hardest not to wake him, but he does.

‘Oh, hello’ he looks down at you. ‘Good morning’.  
‘What’s happening?’ you ask.  
‘Oh’ he removes his arms from around you promptly scoot back. ‘You don’t remember?’  
‘No?’

‘Well…’ he gets up. You were dreading you had sex, but Loki and you are both fully clothed, ‘You blacked out for about an hour before you woke up screaming… I tried to ask you what’s wrong and you went on about some nightmare. I tried to calm you down and you started crying…’

‘Did anyone else hear that?’ you ask.  
‘No. You actually insisted I put a protection spell on the room because you were convinced that…’ he pauses. ‘…that you were being chased’.

You look at him in utter disbelief.

‘The spell also blocks out noise so… no one heard you. Don’t worry’.  
You draw the blankets up to your chin. ‘Loki, I am so sorry’.

He gets back into bed to put his hand on your head. You don’t stop him. He runs his fingers through your hair, which makes you feel a lot better.

‘I might know the answer to this one, but… do you want to talk about it?’ he asks.

You’re still staring at him. After what seems like several minutes, you shake your head. ‘No’.

He scoots closer and gives you a hug. ‘It’s no trouble. I’ll listen anytime you want’.

A traitor to yourself, you allow your head to rest on his chest as he holds you close.

‘Please… don’t tell Tony about this’ you ask.  
‘I won’t breathe a word to anyone’ Loki promises.

xx

Upon further consideration and thought, you decide that what happened last night was that you finally got drunk. Perhaps not the high you were expecting, but it finally happened. Apparently all it took was Loki asking a simple question.

You finish your cold shower and step out to dry your hair. You look at yourself in the mirror. You almost don’t recognise the person in there. The pair of eyes that blink back at you are red and puffy. You look away immediately and leave the washroom to put on your clothes and go for breakfast.

xx

‘LOKI!’ everyone cheers as he enters the room, a reception you’re sure has him inwardly leaping and doing cartwheels.

‘Okay, I gotta say…’ Tony walks over to Loki and throws an arm around his shoulder. ‘Our badass, unusually tall Smurf here killed it last night, and as promised, the prize’ Tony moves his arm and turns to face Loki. ‘Literally anything you want to do, we do next weekend’.

‘You grant him too much power’ Thor calls out between stuffing his mouth with pancakes.   
Loki laughs. ‘I’ll have to think about that. Thank you, Stark’.

Tony smiles and heads back to the table to continue his meal. You take your seat and he looks at you.

‘What the hell happened to you last night?’  
‘What?’ you ask, hiding your face.  
‘Your eyes are red. HEY, did you get drunk last night!?’ he grins.  
‘NO’

‘It finally happened!’ Tony grabs your wrist and gets up on his chair, raising your arm all the way up. ‘Our child has become an adult!’  
‘Please shut up’ you groan.  
‘Tell me, what tipped you over the edge?’ he sits back down.  
‘I don’t know, maybe I had too much’ you say, reaching for a stack of pancakes.  
‘How do you feel about the hangover?’ Nat asks.  
‘I don’t have one’

‘BOO’ Bruce yells from the far corner of the table. A quick look at him informs you that he is currently suffering a hangover. You smile to yourself and proceed to eat the pancakes.

People are ticking their plans off for the Sunday, and you’ve already tuned out.

* * *


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Y/N and Tony make progress with the Reality Gem with Doctor Strange's help. Loki does a little digging into Y/N's past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Plot plot plot, basically. And a little bit of Loki being inquisitive and caring.

Stephen Strange finally texts you that he’s ready to try and crack the Reality gem.

You, Tony, and Vision, have to go of course, but Thor wants to come to meet the ‘Infinity Beer Wizard’ again. Loki accuses him of being an alcoholic, Thor only laughs.

Stephen receives you at the door, with his cape next to him carrying a tray with cups of coffee. Everyone takes one and walks in to set up, while Thor only smiles at Stephen. He rolls his eyes and makes a large mug of beer appear in Thor’s hand.

‘Haha thanks’ he smiles and walks to the opposite corner of the room to take a seat. He isn’t interested in doing anything else.

‘I’ve put Wong in charge for today’ Stephen walks over to your group. ‘Can I help with anything?’  
‘Nah, we got it. Just tell us how this is gonna work’ you say.

He lifts his hand to show you his sling ring. ‘I’ll be entering the mirror dimension with Vision’.  
‘Will you be fine?’  
‘I will, I have my own protection spells around me’.  
‘We couldn’t figure out a way to surveil inside, we spent weeks in the lab’ Tony interrupts. ‘You sure you don’t have any magic stuff that’ll help us keep an eye on Vision?’

Stephen scoffs at Tony’s use of the word “magic”. ‘No, just me’.

You see that Tony hates giving up control like this, but it IS for the greater good.

‘I must mention, before we begin…’ Stephen says, ‘If I feel like it’s getting out of hand, and the dark dimension is drawing in, I will pull us out immediately…’  
‘Yes, of course’ you say.  
‘…with or without the stone’ he finishes.  
Tony shoots a look at him. ‘What does that mean?’  
‘I mean you could very well lose the stone if things get out of hand’.  
‘We can’t lose even a single stone; they’re supposed to be safe with us’.  
Stephen shrugs. ‘It’s your call’.

Tony turns back to look at you, ‘Did he tell you about this?’  
‘Tony…’  
‘DID he?’  
You sigh. ‘He didn’t about this specifically, but he did warn that the stone may be sucked into the dark dimension’.  
‘Tell me we have a backup plan in case that happens’ Tony demands.

You shake your head apologetically.

‘There is no way to retrieve it unless you are willing to risk opening a portal to the dark dimension right above Earth. And if you do that, you’ll have bigger concerns than the stone’ Strange adds. 

You genuinely didn’t think Stephen would be okay letting the Reality Stone go, and are now questioning if you should do it at all. You see Tony internally struggle.

‘What are the chances of losing the stone?’ he asks.  
‘How have your sessions been with Loki?’ Stephen asks Vision.  
‘Good. I have been able to control it so far, and get better at it every time’.  
‘Then not much’ Stephen says.

Tony is still understandably unsure. You wish you could weigh in, but you’re genuinely torn as well.

‘We’ll do it’ he says finally. Your eyes widen and you reach out to touch his shoulder.  
‘Are you sure?’ you ask.  
He sighs. ‘No. But I trust Vision’.

You know how hard it is for Tony to let go of control and trust someone. You hug him. ‘It’ll be fine’ you try to reassure him, even if you don’t believe it yourself.

‘Then we may begin’ Stephen motions for you and Tony to get out of the way so he can create the mirror dimension. Once created, he and Vision enter, leaving you, Tony, and Thor alone.

‘So… they’re in the room then’ Thor says.  
‘Yes, just… whatever they’re doing, we cannot see, and it can’t affect us’ you explain.

His mug continues to replenish itself. Tony plops down on the floor and crosses his legs, staring at where Strange and Vision stepped before disappearing.

Now, all you can do is wait.

xx

Thor has fallen asleep on the floor, and Tony is up, staring at the wall, no doubt day dreaming up another fantastic invention. You’re laying down with your hands on your stomach, only staring up at the ceiling, not a single thought in your head.

Five hours pass, and you hear static electricity. You shoot up to look, and see golden sparks in a circle appear. Stephen walks out with Vision and someone else.

She has no features- only a body shaped like a woman’s, glowing red. Her movements are fluid, but if she stood still, she could easily be mistaken for just a glass sculpture. You’re fascinated, though you can’t look too much because it hurts your eyes.

Tony wakes up too, and he’s staring at the new person.

‘W-who the hell is that?’  
‘Raunverkuleiki’ Vision says.  
‘Reality!’ Thor exclaims.  
‘What?’ Tony says.  
‘Raunverkuleiki is Old Norse for Reality’ he explains.  
‘The origins of the stones aren’t Norse, though’ you say.   
‘It turns out Reality comes from Norse...’ Stephen opens his necklace, and the room glows green. ‘Time comes from Hinduism’.  
‘Wait, what?’ you ask. ‘You didn’t mention that’.  
‘So each one’s from a different pagan belief…’ Tony starts.  
‘HEY watch it’ Thor warns, not liking Tony’s use of the word “pagan”.  
‘Sorry… I meant. You know what I meant, so who is this now? What happens?’  
‘She speaks to me’ Vision says.  
‘What’s she saying?’ Thor asks.  
‘She wants to go back. I promised we’d let her go after asking some questions and she agreed’.

Confused looks are exchanged. ‘Well…’ Tony looks at Raunverkuleiki again.

‘There’s no way to take her out of here’ Tony says.

‘If I may…’ Stephen disappears for a moment and reappears again, holding some clothes. ‘It’s made by the same monk who made the casing for my necklace. It should be able to contain her powers till you get to the tower. But you might just want to keep from anyone seeing her face. Or lack thereof’.

‘She finds that offensive and is asking you to apologize’ Vision says.  
‘Sorry…’ Stephen says immediately.

Vision takes the clothes and wraps her in them, finally putting a hood over her head.

‘You came by car, yes?’ Stephen asks. Tony nods. ‘Bring it to the entrance, close as you possibly can. We’ll put her in’.

xx

‘Okay, your name is a bit long, can we call you Raun for short?’ Tony asks, driving to the Avengers Tower.  
‘She says that’s not her name’ Vision says.  
‘Yeah I just… okay, never mind’ Tony parks in his private parking, which conveniently leads directly into his lab, where Bruce is waiting.

‘What the hell?’ he cries, as you bring Raunverkuleiki in.  
‘Hello Bruce. This is Raunverkuleiki. She doesn’t like Raun. She is also literally reality, and wishes to go back’ you inform.  
‘Um…’   
‘My sentiments exactly’ Tony says.  
‘I… go back where?’ Bruce asks.  
‘She won’t say, but she’s sure she doesn’t want to stay on this planet’ Vision says.  
‘She can help the…’  
‘It’s not her job to’ you interrupt Tony.

He glares at you, but you don’t care. ‘She’s kind enough to answer our questions, but she has no obligation to help us further our research or make new things using her. She has been exploited enough by Thanos and The Collector’.

There is silence for a few seconds.

‘She says she likes you very much’ Vision pipes up, finally.  
‘Fine. Ask her if there’s any special conditions she’d like to stay in while we make a list of things we want’ Tony sighs in resignation.  
‘She says she liked the case you kept her in when she was a stone. Quite warm, but not too much’.

Tony points to the statis cube. You see Raunverkuleiki sprint to the cube and shut herself in, then promptly curl up against the wall. You’re sure she is whatever her version of asleep is.

‘How’d you do it?’ you ask Vision.  
‘Well, I kept manipulating reality until she could no longer keep all the changes together. It took quite a while because she’s pretty strong’.  
‘I don’t doubt it’ you look back at her.  
‘Can we take a minute to just talk about what we’ve achieved here now?’ Bruce asks. ‘We DID it… we finally did it!’

Tony smiles for the first time in hours, and it makes you feel relieved. ‘We couldn’t have done it without you’ he tells you. ‘If you weren’t such a nerd, I mean’.

You laugh. ‘I bet you want a drink’.  
‘You’re absolutely right, but I think I’m going to spend some time here figuring out what I want to ask her’.  
‘But… we _are_ celebrating, yes? We’ve been working on this for months’ you say.  
‘I’m offended that you feel like you need to ask’ he grins, ‘Do you know me?’

xx

You walk through the corridor to Nat’s room to tell her of the developments and pass by Loki.

‘Hey!’ you exclaim. ‘We did it! She’s alive! She's here!’  
‘That’s amazing!’ he grabs you to give you a hug, and you hug him back.   
‘Her name is Raunverkuleiki’ you say. ‘She’s beautiful, she’s in the lab right now, asleep I guess’.  
‘Wait, she’s Norse?’  
‘I KNOW RIGHT, apparently Stephen’s Time stone is Hindu. I have so many questions, but it’s been a very emotional day for everyone, so I’m keeping it for later’.  
‘Can I… see her?’ Loki asks.  
‘Sure, I don’t see why not. Just not right now, okay, she’s tired’.  
‘Of course not now, right now I want to talk to you’ he grins at you. ‘I’ve been dying to know, I would have come myself, but Clint wanted my help with something’.  
‘I don’t know much, but I _can_ dramatize the little I know’.  
‘I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ll get us some food; I know you haven’t eaten yet’.

You can’t help but smile. You like how he has silently taken up the responsibility of caring for you, like you did for him. It’s so warm and familiar, you don’t want to rebel against how it feels.

You tell him you’ll be right back after briefing Natasha, and he says he’ll keep the food warm.

‘When is she going back?’ Nat asks.  
‘Well, I suppose it’s up to her. Right now, she just wants to sleep, I guess. Vision used the stone for like five hours straight, she’s exhausted as hell’.  
‘I hope Tony leaves her be for a whole day then, girl’s earned it’.  
You nod in agreement. ‘We are celebrating tonight though. I mean it’s months of researching and hypothesising and late night experiments…’  
‘You don’t have to defend it’ Nat laughs. ‘I know, Bruce has been giving me every detail, every day’.  
‘Excellent. I’ll see you tonight then’ you turn around to walk away.  
‘Hey, listen…’ Nat calls you back. ‘Loki was asking me about when you guys left’.  
‘Oh?’  
‘Yeah, he asked if I knew about your past. Asked for access to some of your files. I refused of course, but he said it was to help you. I just want your confirmation on whether I should allow him access’.

You’re obviously uncomfortable with this, and shake your head. ‘I’ll speak to him’ you assure her.

* * *


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An old flame of Loki's appears, and Y/N doesn't know what on earth to make of it.

You walk into the dining room, where Loki is unwrapping burgers and placing them on plates.

‘Oh we don’t need that; we can just eat from the wrappers’.  
He wrinkles his nose at the thought. ‘We are already eating junk, we don’t need to look like it’.

You let out a horrified laugh at his statement, and he continues plating the food. 

‘So, Loki…’ you take your seat as he serves you fries. ‘Why were you looking to access my files?’

He looks at you for split second before returning his attention to serving. You wait. Once he’s done, he sits down across from you and locks eyes with you. ‘I was curious’.  
‘You can ask me’.  
‘You wouldn’t tell me’.

 _Fair enough_ , you think. A year in the Avengers Tower, and even Tony had very little idea about your past. You just didn’t want anyone getting too close, but Loki trusted you enough to tell you about Thanos, and you feel like you should reciprocate.

‘Fine. You can ask me five questions; I will answer them as honestly as I can’ you say.  
His eyes widen. ‘Really!?’  
‘Yes. And that was one, so you got four left’.

He looks hurt, and begs to have the first question back, but you refuse, laughing. He frowns and accepts it finally.

‘What do you want to ask?’ you ask, as you sink your teeth into a burger. You feel his eyes on you, but you don’t look back at him. This is awkward enough as it is.

After a minute’s pause, he asks, ‘What were you asking protection from that night?’

You now look at him, still chewing your burger. You lean back and finish chewing, then swallow. You take a sip of your coke. Then you take a deep breath. ‘I thought I was being chased by men who wanted to take something from me that was dear to me’.

Loki nods. ‘I want to ask what the thing was, but I assume you don’t wish to tell me yet’.

You smile. ‘You’re slyly trying to throw in more questions’.  
‘Can’t hurt to try. Please let me keep my remaining three’.

You smile and nod, and he thanks you.

‘Where were you, in this dream?’ he asks.

These questions are oddly specific; you were expecting him to just ask what happened or something general.

‘I was in my childhood home’ you reply. Two more questions left.

Loki is taking his time now. He has started on his meal, occasionally opening his mouth to ask something, then shutting it again. You continue eating.

‘When was the last time you got genuinely drunk?’  
You sigh. You wash down the fries with another sip of coke. ‘Four years ago’ you say. ‘Of course, until a few nights ago with you’.

He goes back to eating. So do you.

‘Will there come a time when you tell me everything?’ he asks finally.  
‘Are you sure you want that to be your last question?’  
‘I am hoping I get five more some other time, and an indefinite amount one day. So yes’.

You look away from him, down at your plate. You’re nervously fidgeting with the straw in your drink. You again feel his eyes on you, but you’re fixated on the food on your plate.

‘You can take your time to…’  
‘I might’ you interrupt.  
You look up at him and he’s smiling. ‘I’m glad’ he says.

xx

‘Loki, you haven’t told us yet what you wanna do’ Tony calls to him at dinner. ‘The weekend is getting close’.  
‘I’ve decided’ he says. ‘But it does take up a considerable amount of funds and perhaps preparation, so we can keep this for another weekend, perhaps next month’.  
‘Money is no object’ Tony declares.  
‘Well…’ he smiles at you. ‘Since everyone who went to Dubai recently and didn’t get to stay to take in the sights, I thought maybe we could go for a weekend’.

Your eyes widen, aware that you probably look like an excited child to him right now.

‘And you could be our guide’ he winks at you. ‘I know you love to teach people things’.  
‘That’s an understatement’ Bruce says. ‘But I’m up for this. Guys?’

Everyone agrees.

‘It’s settled then. We finish up with Raunverkuleiki, let her go to wherever she wants to go, and then we leave for Dubai’ Tony says. ‘A weekend’s no good, though. I say a whole week’.

The rest of the dinner is people asking you questions about the city, especially how much sunscreen they would require.

‘Don’t worry’ you reassure them. ‘It’ll be quite pleasant, it’s the end of November and just glorious’.  
‘Anything we should know before going there?’ Bruce asks. ‘Islamic law and all that?’  
You have to admire Bruce for asking. ‘Not a lot. Only certain things, I'll hold a presentation later' you say, inviting laughs from the group. 

Eventually though, you allow yourself to tune out while everyone else is talking about Raunverkuleiki and what they’re looking forward to in Dubai.

xx

‘You didn’t have to do that’ you tell Loki, as he enters your room with the DVD for season 6.  
‘Do what?’  
‘You could have made us do literally anything this weekend. Like Thor said, Stark gave you _too_ much power. You didn’t have to ask for us to go back to Dubai’.  
‘Why do you think I did it for you?’ he asks with a sly smile.  
‘I… didn’t you?’  
‘No. Get over yourself’ he teases, popping the DVD in the player. ‘I just wanted to go to the tallest building in the world’.  
‘Right…’ you’re a little suspicious but decide not to pursue. He gets into bed with you and hits play on the remote.

The opening credits play. ‘I’ve noticed that if Moffat writes the episode, it’s bound to be sad or terrible’ he comments.   
‘Oh, don’t ever watch _Sherlock_ ’.  
‘What’s that?’  
‘We’ll watch it next’  
‘I thought you said not to watch it?’ Loki asks, confused.  
‘No, don’t listen to me. We’ll watch it, and then I’ll tell you we shouldn’t have watched it’.  
‘Wha…’  
‘Just go with it’ you pat his leg. ‘Now sshh’.

xx

Raunverkuleiki is now up, curiously browsing through Tony’s lab, touching everything. You’d think Tony would completely freak out and keep asking her to please sit down and not touch anything, but Tony’s too busy watching her just move like liquid. Bruce is also captivated.

So are you.

She looks as fragile as glass, but you know there’s more power in there than all the Iron Man suits put together from all the parallel universes.

‘What is it exactly you can do?’ Bruce asks.  
‘She can manipulate reality. Make it rain diamonds, for example’ Vision says.  
‘That’s meteorologically impossible’ Tony retorts.  
‘He just said she can manipulate reality- it doesn’t have to make logical sense’ you say.

Tony shrugs. ‘Alright, how do we know you won’t go wherever you have to go and end up causing destruction?’

‘TONY!’ you shout.  
‘She says she’s going home’ Vision says.  
‘Tony, can you be delicate?’ you scold him.  
‘She says she isn’t meant to manipulate reality’ Vision continues. ‘Just like her sister’s purpose isn’t to manipulate Time, nor is it her sister’s purpose to give its holder Power. They only have these gifts, but ever since they were formed, they were used by others'. 

‘They used to be people’ Vision goes on, ‘They changed themselves to look like stones so they would be left alone, and have stayed that way so long, it was the only life they knew’.

You stare at Raunverkuleiki in disbelief, and feeling a little sorry.

‘Tony… the Power stone…’ Bruce starts… he looks sad, but also a little afraid.  
‘I know’ Tony responds quickly, not wanting him to go on.  
‘She’s asking what about it’ Vision says.

You sigh. ‘Raunverkuleiki, what is the name of your sister? The… Power?’  
‘Chikara’ Vision says.  
‘Japanese now’ you interest is piqued more and more. ‘Raunverkuleiki, how is it that you are all from different mythologies?’  
‘They aren’t different’ Vision says. ‘She says they all come from Omnipotent’.  
‘Omnipotent… is the same for all of them?’  
‘It is how the universe began, and it began once, in one birth, from one Omnipotent, so yes’

You are positively bursting at this point. ‘Could you please name your other sisters?’

You see Raunverkuleiki’s head cock to one side.

‘Waqt is Time...’ Vision begins. ‘Raunverkuleiki is her. Reality. Chikara is Power. Psychi is Soul. Kōngjiān is Space. Geedagte is Mind…’ 

Recognising each of these words, you’re getting more and more worked up. But Vision doesn’t look like he’s done. ‘…and Ahkka is Ego’. 

‘What?’ Tony exclaims. ‘What the hell does that mean, there is a seventh stone?’   
‘Ahkka died. Peter Quill killed him’ Vision responds.

Having the mind stone allowed him access to that sort of information too, so he wasn’t asking Raunverkuleiki all the questions. 

‘Him!?’ Bruce asks.   
‘She says it’s a good thing, he was the most dangerous and ambitious’.   
‘QUILL killed the most powerful one?’ Tony asks in disbelief.   
‘She is asking what Bruce was saying about Chikara’. 

‘Right…’ you purse your lips. ‘Thing is uh… Chikara is currently being used to power an entire camp of refugees on the other side of the world’. 

Raunverkuleiki floats over, very close to you, and it feels threatening. 

‘She is asking you to release her’.   
‘We need an alternate source of power. If you can make one, we’ll be more than happy to hand your sister back to you’ Tony says. 

The room instantly glows red, and it has become hotter. 

‘She doesn’t agree, to that’ Vision says.   
‘Oh really, I guess I misread that’ Tony says, ‘Listen Raunverkuleiki, we can’t leave thousands of children without electricity and medical facilities. If you can…’   
‘Tony, a minute?’ you interrupt. 

xx 

‘You can’t seriously tell me you’re considering letting Power go’   
‘Chikara’ you correct Tony. ‘And I did tell you these beings are not obligated to help us. They aren’t even supposed to help us, they just want to go home and be a family’.   
‘We can’t leave…’   
‘Try _asking_ , Tony. Not demanding’ you say. ‘Maybe she would, for example, like to meet Chikara and speak to her’.

Tony glares at you. ‘What if she leaves?’. 

‘She may not until we have an alternative source’ you try to reassure him. ‘At least try’.   
He sighs. ‘I don’t like this’.   
‘I know’.   
He shakes his head and opens the door. ‘I’m considering it, okay? I’ll see you in the lab’ he goes inside. 

Loki, who has been listening, pipes up from behind you, ‘Can I see her?’ 

‘Oh!’ you jump and turn around. ‘How long have you been there!?’   
‘Since you walked in. May I see her?’   
‘Yeah, come along’. 

xx 

‘Hello, _Raunverkuleiki_ ’ Loki greets as he walks into Tony’s lab for the first time. He puts a certain amount of stress on the name, and it doesn’t escape you.

The room gets a few degrees hotter, and Raunverkuleiki goes to hide behind Vision. 

‘You didn’t tell me you were Norse. Raun, huh? Why didn’t you tell me?’   
‘She’s asking what you are doing here’ Vision says.   
‘Oh I know what she says’.   
‘You know each other!?’ you gasp. 

‘Raun…’ Loki peers behind Vision. ‘It’s no use hiding behind him’. 

Raunverkuleiki steps out from behind him and stands, her body language signalling that she is embarrassed. 

‘Why didn’t you say you were Norse?’ Loki asks. ‘What do you mean you aren’t, your name is Raunverkuleiki, what does that sound to you, Welsh?... No, I don’t mind, it’s a lovely name, I just want to know why you didn’t tell me…. WHAT!?... No way…’ 

You stare at Loki when he talks, and stare at Raunverkuleiki when there’s a pause, even though you have no idea what 's happening. You’re dying to know what she’s saying.

‘…well you could have still told me' he continues, 'it’s a little disturbing that you wouldn’t tell me given everything... Yes, I know we’re ALL, in a sense, related, but I would still like to know’   
‘EXCUSE ME?’ you shout.

Loki looks at you. ‘Yes, we used to be a thing, get over it’. 

‘WHAT?’ you, Tony, Bruce, Vision say in unison.   
‘Hold on, Loki…’ you walk over to him, ‘Did you… literally _date Reality_?’   
‘Yes’. 

You’re appalled at how this is completely normal to him. But now you realise why she doesn’t want to be called Raun. 

‘So… hold on, you’re related?’ Bruce asks.   
‘Not quite’ Loki explains. ‘I mean… possibly. The truth is, these things are unclear. Omnipotent made the first gods, from which Odin and the Frost Giants came, and Raun is his daughter’.   
‘Whose daughter?’ Bruce asks.   
‘Omnipotent. He has no name’.   
‘Right… you are cousins, then?’ Tony asks.   
‘It’s not quite so black and white’ Loki smiles. He turns back to Raunverkuleiki. ‘But I am glad you’re okay. I hope you’ll be off home now’. 

Raunverkuleiki is nodding vigorously, and Loki gives her a hug, and then leaves, but not before winking at you on his way out. 

‘So after that very weird reunion…’ Tony interjects. ‘Raunverkuleiki, we will take you to meet your sister. But I do have a request’.   
‘She’s listening’ Vision says.   
‘When you meet her, please discuss leaving before _actually_ leaving. If I get a little time, I can try and find a way to power the camp without her’.   
‘She says alright’ Vision confirms. ‘She wants to go back to the statis cube now’.   
‘Of course’ Tony walks to the cube and opens the door.

Raunverkuleiki runs in and curls up again. You think it’s kind of cute.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Lately I've been wondering if I should give proper chapter titles, but I just can't seem to think of any! I wrote the whole fic in 3 days sometime last year, and breaking it up into chapters feels odd. Oh well.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers all fly down to a secret, undisclosed location where another Infinity Stone is hidden.

‘You dated Raunverkuleiki!?’ you shout, walking into the dining room. 

Loki is the very picture of relaxation, with his boots off and his feet up on the ottoman, reading his book and sipping a green tea. You are amused and irritated at the same time.

‘When the hell did this happen!?’   
‘It was before I met you’ he grins.   
‘Yeah NO SHIT’ you kick his feet off the ottoman and sit.

He laughs and sits up straight. 

‘How did you… I mean. HOW?’   
‘You see, when a two people meet each other, and they like each other...’ 

You glare at him and he shuts up, an insolent grin still across his face. 

‘She’s so beautiful’ you say.   
‘She really is’ he agrees.   
‘Why’d you break up?’   
‘Oh, it was never serious. She had her duties to her people, I had pranks to play on mine. It was very amicable’. 

You still wish Loki was a _little_ excited, or at least sharing your enthusiasm, but the magnitude of how okay he is with this annoys you. But there was nothing more to say about it. You shrug and stand up to walk away. 

‘Oh, but we did have excellent sex, specifically because she can manipulate reality, so when she was close to…’   
‘La lalalalalala’ you shut your ears, ‘Bye’.   
‘No, wait, I…’ he gets up, shuts his book and walks over to you. ‘That was like a million years ago. It has nothing to do with my present, I hope you know’.   
‘Um…’ you don’t understand why he feels the need to tell you this. ‘Yes, I know. I was just curious. It seemed interesting’.   
‘Right’ he looks relieved. ‘Well. Bye then, I’ll return to my book’. He sits back down, and you give him a confused look and walk away. 

xx

‘Where is this camp?’ Clint asks.   
‘I don’t know’ you respond. ‘Only Tony knows, and he won’t tell anybody. He says for security reasons’.   
‘It’s just a refugee camp’   
‘Which has the Power stone, yes. Tony doesn’t want anyone but him to know where it is’.   
Clint rolls his eyes. ‘He’s a control freak’.   
‘You’re surprised?’ you laugh. But you’ve Tony long enough to know that he won’t tell anyone else just so they can’t be threatened by Hydra.   
‘Ready?’ Tony walks into the lab. ‘We leave for the airstrip in ten’.   
‘Roger that’ Clint gives him a small salute. 

Everyone is curious to meet Chikara now, after seeing Raunverkuleiki. Natasha is absolutely captivated, much to Bruce’s jealousy and amusement. 

Cars carrying Clint, Nat, Bruce, Tony, Vision, Loki, Raunverkuleiki, and you leave the Tower for Tony’s airstrip. You’re sharing a car with Raunverkuleiki, who is sitting in the backseat with Nat. You can’t help but keep looking back at Nat, who is staring at Raunverkuleiki so obviously, and Raunverkuleiki, who you are sure notices it, looks like she enjoys the attention. You smile to yourself and look ahead again, and start a conversation with the driver. 

xx 

Raunverkuleiki floats into the jet, her hands running over the leather fabric of the seats. She takes a seat by the window, and wiggles, possibly trying to get comfortable. You see the vigorous shake of her head as she promptly stands up.

‘She doesn’t like the seat’ Vision says.  
‘Yeah, I figured, I got the statis cube’ Tony says.

As if on cue, two men wheel in a large statis cube. You spot them wheel it in, and swear that you saw Raunverkuleiki clap her hands from the corner of your eyes. She runs into the cube and curls up.

‘She really loves that cube, huh’ Nat remarks.  
‘You think you’d keep her warmer, Nat?’ you nudge her.  
‘I…’ she looks at you in shock, then frowns. ‘Shut up’ she walks away. You grin.  
‘What’s the joke?’ Tony asks, buckling his seatbelt.  
‘Nothing…’ you say innocently, taking your seat.

xx

14 hours later, you arrive at the undisclosed location. Tony is the first to disembark, and he is greeted with howls and cheers. You watch from the window as little children run up to hug him. He has practically adopted the whole planet at this point, and you chuckle to yourself.

He continues waving and hugging little children. He whispers something to the guards, and the guards motion for the people to go back to their homes. A few more cheers and howls later, the square is cleared, and the rest of your crew disembarks. Raunverkuleiki is still in the cube, which Tony figured, so he just got the men to wheel it into the house kept ready for your crew.

‘When do we see Chikara now?’ you ask Tony.  
‘After everyone sleeps. No one here knows what’s powering their camp, I don’t want to draw any attention to us’.  
‘So… what’s your cover story for coming here now?’  
‘Bruce has been working on advancing some medical tech, so our story is that we’re here to upgrade the facilities here. Which isn’t a lie’.  
You’re impressed. ‘So is Bruce at the clinic now?’ you ask.  
‘Yup’.  
‘I’ll see what I can do to help then’ you wave goodbye.

xx

Night falls. There is total darkness in the camp, not even a streetlight on. You walk out of the house and look up at the stars clear in the black sky. You stand there, letting your body relax as your head hangs back.

‘Hello’ Loki comes up behind you.  
‘Hi’ you say, without looking away from the sky.

He grabs your arm gently and pulls you down with him to lie on the ground. You laugh.

‘What are you looking at’ he asks.  
You point at the stars. ‘Do you see that star over there?’  
‘Yes?’  
‘That’s Andromeda. And the constellation to the left is her mother, Cassiopeia’.  
‘Really’ he says.  
‘No, I have no idea, I just slapped some Greek names on that’ you giggle. ‘You try’  
‘Okay’ Loki points to a star far left. ‘That’s Hades and…’ he trails his finger down, ‘…over there is Perseus, who is running from Hades’.  
‘Oh, why is that?’ you ask.  
After a pause, Loki says, ‘He stole Hades’ favourite flute’.  
You laugh out loud. ‘Okay, okay, over there…’ you point far right. ‘Is Zeus’.  
‘And the constellation below is a goat’ he continues.  
‘Oh yeah, I totally see it. So that’s the goat, that’s Zeus and’ you trail your finger across a line of stars, ‘that’s Zeus’ dick’.  
‘Oh my god’ a horrified laughter escapes Loki. ‘And what’s that over there?’ he points to a star above them all.  
‘Oh, Hera. She’s watching over this whole thing, plotting her revenge’.  
‘I see. I suppose the star below is Dionysus then’ he grins. ‘Drinking his wine and watching all this tomfoolery unfold before him’.

The two of you laugh for the next few minutes, enjoying your jokes and each other’s company. You aren’t aware of how long you’ve been laying there like that, but you know quite some time has passed.

‘Enjoying ourselves?’  
You sit up to see Tony. ‘Hi! We’re just stargazing’

Tony extends his hand to help you up and you take it. Loki gets up as well.

‘We’re taking Raunverkuleiki to Chikara’ Tony says. ‘Thought you’d like to come’.  
‘Of course. Is everyone?’  
‘Not Bruce, he wants to work in the clinic still. But the rest. We’ll head out in five’.  
‘Copy that’.

xx

It’s quite a walk, and Tony refused to take a car for fear of waking someone. Once you’ve reached the outskirts of the camp, he stops. He takes out a dial from his pocket and punches in some numbers, and it looks like an invisibility cloak has fallen.

‘Fury helped set it up’ Tony explains, answering everyone’s question. ‘It’s the same tech they use to hide the heli-carrier when in surveillance mode’

Behind the “cloak” is a machine that might possibly be the size of the Hulk. It doesn’t make any noise, but lets out a bright purple light that you hope people in the camp will not be able to detect.

Tony goes closer and opens up the statis cube, similar to where Raunverkuleiki was kept, and opens the door. You don’t know how, but you can _feel_ the power die in the camp. Tony steps back and motions for Raunverkuleiki to come forward.

She cocks her head to one side, an action you find extremely endearing, and suspect you will dearly miss when she leaves, and she walks ahead, her body again moving like liquid. You steal a glance at Natasha, whose eyes are locked on Raunverkuleiki’s hips. You shake your head at Nat’s blatant gayness and look back at the expected reunion.

‘She’s trying to wake her up’ Vision says. You put a hand on his shoulder.   
‘Let it play out, Vis. Like a beautiful, silent film’.

Her hand extends into the cube to touch the stone, and immediately, a power surge hits the camp, with lights in every house switched back on to its maximum and machines that make noise roaring through the silent camp. The rest of your crew is also knocked a few feet back. The power has died now, but you hear people start to wake up and screech.

‘I’ll just put them all to sleep, shall I’ Vision says, and leaves. It sounds sinister, but you know he’s just about to use the Mind stone to make people fall into a deep sleep.

You stand back up again, waiting to witness a reunion. The purple light gets bigger. A head pokes out of the statis cube first, then arms, then a torso, and finally legs. You don’t believe in a god, but are prepared to make this whole experience your religion. 

Chikara is bigger, MUCH bigger than Raunverkuleiki. Raunverkuleiki is slightly taller than the average female, but Chikara is towering over everybody, glowing purple. You notice her movements aren’t fluid like Raunverkuleiki, but somehow more authoritative.

You can’t believe you kept her locked up in a cube this whole time.

You see Raunverkuleiki float up to be face-to-face with Chikara, and try to decipher their conversation through body language alone.

Raunverkuleiki points below her, at your group, and they continue making hand gestures and moving their shoulders. It looks heavenly, but you do want to know what they’re saying.

‘Loki…’ you whisper. ‘What are they saying?’  
‘She’s just asking her if she would like to go back’.  
‘Oh…’ you seem a little disappointed, but you knew it would happen.

Loki puts an arm around your shoulder. ‘We’ll find a way to help these people’. You hope so.

Vision returns finally, and stands by Tony. Raunverkuleiki comes down to face Vision, and puts her hands on his shoulders. He nods.

‘She says since you agreed to let Chikara be free, Chikara will remain and power this camp until you find an alternative source. She does want Raunverkuleiki to stay with her, though, and keep her form’.  
‘We… no one at camp can see them like this’ Tony says.

Chikara sits down on the ground cross legged, which results her now being about four feet above eye level to everyone. She leans forward towards Tony, and Tony takes a step back.

‘Chikara thanks you for freeing her, but says you cannot control her anymore. She wishes to keep her form’.  
‘Just gonna be bullied into it, huh’ Tony says.

He looks to Natasha, who usually handles the diplomacy stage of things, but quickly decides she is going to be completely useless in his quest to get them to change back. He sighs.

‘You have to stay behind the cloak then. If people here see you, there will be trouble. I’m just trying to protect everyone’.  
‘She agrees, and says she will stay under the cloak’ Vision says.  
‘Well…’ Tony shrugs. ‘Guess that’s it then’.

You feel it’s quite anti-climactic. But you aren’t sure what else you expected, really.

Raunverkuleiki and Chikara sit by the machine, and Chikara sticks her hand inside the cube. Even though there is no indication for this, you _feel_ the power come back on.

‘I uh… I gotta put you back under the cloak now’ Tony says.

Vision nods for him to go ahead and Tony removes his dial to hide them. As the shield goes up, you spot Raunverkuleiki excitedly wave at you. You wave back laughing.


End file.
